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THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY 


~ DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


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FROM TYPE AND THE TYPE DISTRIBUTE 


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DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


ASPICTURE BOOK OF THE BEAUTIFUL FORMS OF ALL AGES 
AND ALL PERIODS: EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN, GREEK, ROMAN, 
BYZANTINE, CHINESE, JAPANESE, PERSIAN, ROMANESQUE, 
GOTHIC, FRENCH RENAISSANCE, ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, 
LATER ITALIAN, LOUIS XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, DIRECTOIRE AND 
tMPIRE, SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, FLEMISH, DUTCH, SWISS, 
ELIZABETHAN, JACOBEAN, CHARLES II, WILLIAM AND MARY, 
QUEEN ANNE, EARLY GEORGIAN, CHIPPENDALE, ADAM, 
HEPPLEWHITE, SHERATON, AMERICAN COLONIAL, MODERN 
EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN, AMERICAN MISSION. 


BY 
GEORGE LELAND HUNTER 


AUTHOR OF 
“Decorative Textiles”; “Tapestries, Their Origin, History and Renaissance” ; 
“Ttalian Furniture and Interiors” 


WITH MORE THAN 900 ILLUSTRATIONS 
23 PLATES IN COLOR 


GRAND RAPIDS 
GOOD FURNITURE MAGAZINE 


THE DEAN-HICKS COMPANY 


MCMXXIII 


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Printep sy Tue Dean-Hicxs Company 
at tHE Goop Furniture MAGAztne Press 


Granp Rarms, Micu., U. S. A. 


TO MY ADORED WIFE, ESTHER 


PREFACE 


The illustrations are the important part of this book. The text 
furnishes background and scale for the complete understanding of the 
periods. 

The credit for assembling the illustrations, most of which have 
appeared in the pages of Good Furniture Magazine during the past 
nine years, (though many are new) is due largely to various contribu- 
tors, chief among them William Laurel Harris, whose articles on the 
origin of American Mission were the first really important contribu- 
tion made to the study of this style. Other contributors, illustrations 
from whose articles have been used, are: Richard FE’. Bach, Arthur 
Byne, Paul Chalfin, Stewart Culin, Walter EK. Dyer, W. P. Dudley, 
H. Donaldson Eberlein, J. Monroe Hewlett, Edward Stratton Hol- 
loway, J. A. Hunter, Abbot McClure, Leila Mechlin, W. G. Blaikie 
Murdoch, Eliza M. Niblack, C. Matlack Price, J. Frank Purdy, 
Lionel Robertson, J. H. Rudd, Edward R. Smith, Charles D. Thom- 
son, William Walton, Elsie F'. Weil. 

The two principal distinctions of furniture according to form are 
those between case furniture and frame furniture, that is to say be- 
tween box furniture and skeletonized furniture, between furniture for 
storage and furniture constructed to support the human body. 

Chests and the cabinets derived from them in the course of cen- 
turies, are the principal forms of case furniture. Chairs and beds and 
tables are the principal forms of frame furniture. There is also much 
furniture of a mixed type which serves both for storage and for the 
body, such as chests used to sit on and dine from and lie upon. ‘The 
most distinguished example of the seat chests is the Florentine cassa- 
panca (chest-bench), with high back and arms of case construction. 

The two fundamental style divisions are Classic and Romantic. 
Classic is rectilinear and symmetrical. Romantic is curvilinear and 
irregular. Greek architecture is the extreme of Classic. Japanese 
painting is the extreme of Romantic. Classic leans on geometry. 
Romantic leans on Nature. 

Classic is more human. Romantic is more divine. Art is what 
man makes. Nature is what God makes. Man works with plumb 
line and foot rule. God works on an infinite scale. Nature is the raw 
material out of which man creates Art for human needs. God’s ar- 
chitecture is vastly grander than human architecture. But man-built 


houses, with horizontal floors and perpendicular walls, are better than 
caves.to live in, and man-built churches and cathedrals are better than 
hills and valleys and mountains for the celebration of religious 
ceremonies. 

In furniture, to distinguish between Classic and Romantic is 
important. It makes obvious the fundamental differences between 
Renaissance and Baroque, Louis XIV and Louis XV, Chippendale 
and Adam, Louis X VI and Art Nouveau, Egyptian and Chinese. 

Great structural styles tend to emphasize Classic architectural, 
at the expense of decorative Romantic. Great ornamental styles tend 
to emphasize decorative Romantic, at the expense of Classic architec- 
tural. The Occidental styles, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, 
Romanesque, and Renaissance, are architectural and Classic. The 
Oriental styles, Chinese, Japanese, Hindoo, are decorative and Roman- 
tic. The West seems to have developed architecture at the expense 
of decoration. The Kast seems to have developed decoration at the 
expense of architecture. 

Gothic is unique. It is architectural, but it is not symmetrical. 
There is no balance between horizontal and vertical. Vertical lines 
are emphasized at the expense of horizontal, so that Gothic architec- 
ture instead of resting solidly on the ground like Classic architecture, 
is full of upward movement. Compared with Classic, Gothic is a 
Romantic style. But compared with Romantic, it is a Classic style. 

Classic and Romantic are comparative terms. No style is abso- 
lutely Classic. If it were, it would look like Geometry. No style is 
absolutely Romantic. If it were, it would be worse than Art Nouveau. 
The round arches of Roman, inherited from architecture developed 
in brick in Mesopotamia, make Roman less Classic than Greek. The 
S’s and C’s and broken lines and complexities of Baroque make it, 
in spite of its emphasized symmetry, less Classic than Renaissance. 
The irregular and unsymmetrical curves of Rococo distinguish it as 
Romantic. The symmetrical straight lines of Louis XVI and Adam 
distinguish them as Classic. 

The virtues of Classic are simplicity and balance and proportion 
and static beauty of form. The virtues of Romantic are variety and 
mystery and passion and movement and life. But exaggerated Classic 
is apt to be hard and dry and monotonous and uninteresting, while 
exaggerated Romantic is restless and illogical. 


New York, July 26th, 1923 G. L. H. 


EDITOR’S NOTE 


Decorative Furniture is a companion volume to Decorative Tiex- 
tiles, published in 1918 by Good Furniture Magazine. Only a limited 
edition has been printed from type and the type distributed. 

Whereas important advances in the textile arts in our own day 
made it logical and necessary to show in Decorative Tewxtiles numerous 
examples of American twentieth century decorative weaving, It was 
felt that America’s twentieth century contribution to the art of furni- 
ture making is still in too formative a stage to make it advisable to 
devote more than one chapter to contemporary American furniture. 

The purpose of the present volume is to provide practical infor- 
mation about the beautiful forms of furniture of all ages, from ancient 
Egypt to modern times, so that those who follow the author’s clear 
explanations of fundamental relationships, likenesses and differences, 
may gain, by reference to the illustrations, a sounder knowledge of 
furniture and more power to appreciate and correctly appraise it. 

The editor knows of no previous work on furniture, in any lan- 
guage, which answers this purpose so well, with its marvelous illus- 
trations (more than 900 in number) and with a story so simply and 


so delightfully told. 


Grand Rapids, August 4th, 1923 Henry W. FROHNE 


4 


DOL, 


XE 


XIII. 


XIV. 


CONTENTS 


eeege STAN © Lo CRN PT UES ou oe es ds ee ele 1 


BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN, GREEK, ROMAN AND 


GorHic FURNITURE: 
FRENCH, FRENCH-FLEMISH, ENGLISH, SPANISH.... 67 


ORIENTAL FURNITURE: 


BE CIAN-ACIINESE, @) APANESE.< iyo. eels eee coe se 93 
PUAGIAN IVENAISSANCE B.URNITURE...4.5..4522-5.45. 115 
er SL PALIAN? EH URNITURE: 04 Seu we ecmicds eee e seas 147 
PReNCT RENAISSANCE FURNITURE... ....6..0-5.00.. 161 


LATER FRENCH FURNITURE: 
Louis XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, Drrectorse, Empire 195 


SPANISH, PoRTUGUESE, F'LEMISH, DutTcH AND Swiss 
INCE CAR Beet en tel ee. be ac hers) dies 265 


ENG.uIisH ‘TupoR AND STUART FURNITURE: 
ELIZABETHAN, JACOBEAN, CHARLES II, WILLIAM 
SUNY CARY. CUBIN GAIN NE els 2 os ue Beg Gee wed Sip 


Later ENGLISH FURNITURE: 
HarRLY GEORGIAN (GEORGE I), GrorGiaAn Rococo 
(CHIPPENDALE), ADAM, HEpPLEWHITE, SHERATON 351 


IYMERICAN COLONIAL BURNITURE........¢..:6>.0-5 387 
MopEerRN EUROPEAN FURNITURE: 

FrRencH, ENGLISH, GERMAN, AUSTRIAN........... 423 
MopEerN AMERICAN AND MIssION F'URNITURE....... 441 


LIST OF PLATES 


Color Plate, outside cover: Roman Chair pictured on the Boscoreale Frescoes at the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 


CHAPTER I 
EGYPTIAN FURNITURE 


PAGE 
Egyptian Chair.of the Fourteenth Century B. C. (Color Plate)........ Frontispiece 
ieypian Puroiture over Five Thousand Years Old..:...............00005 6 
FP euamerurmturers, 500 Years Old... 02... ee ee ee en eee este e es 7 
irene mcacwoodene@hair in America. . 0166. cs tw ee eee eee ene 8 
Paicens Weypuan Furniture and Furniture Making..............0.0e000 008 9 
Egyptian Doors and Windows of the Twentieth Century B. C............... 10 
Heypuan arm Chairs of the Fourteenth Century B. C.............0neee eee ee 11 
Egyptian Royal Chairs as pictured 3,000 years ago (Color Plate).......... 12 
Egyptian Royal Chairs as pictured 3,000 years ago (Color Plate).......... 13 
Wier Ericess Sitamon in the Cairo Museum...............5 0.000580: 14 
Cirimom Emin cessmomamon, (Outside of arms)2-..%..5586.00. <0 + sone scec 15 
Siamriomurincess Sitamon (Inside of back and arms)... .... 2.00: seees 16 
Pommrcsiewoncient Leyptian Royal Chairs, ..2.... 0.0.5 0.cseacun eee saee 17 
em auat wire contrasted with the “Chair” Age.......0...6...20.55225- 18 
Mogae bens of the Fourteenth Century B.C... 0. ee ees cae ones 19 
iaweuamsehamaemctired-in Carved. Stone. . 2.66.60. 5 05 beet bec eweseescs 20 
Piece evirian jecool and Small Bench. ...).0..5060.6c be ee et eee tenes 21 
AnGenimAciimesandViodels of Beyptian Furniture... 2.2.25. sees. se ss 22 
Aum@ent weyptian Lion-legged Chairs and Beds.)...........02c cs eeeeee nes 23 
Egyptian Painted Wooden Cabinets of the Fourteenth Century B. C......... 24 
Eeypuan Wooden Jewel Cabinet of Amenhotep II]...........0..:...0- 2008 25 
Getemuneone cra or Tutankhamen. oa... ie hemes ses oe elle ele manne bene Me 26 
CHAPTER II 
BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN, GREEK, ROMAN AND 
BYZANTINE-ROMAN FURNITURE 

Greek Table, Couch, Chair and Footstool of the Third Century B. C. (Color 

MEARE MOISE Te S705, 6,4 clicns 6) Pie aie A eae as she Go. lig, 2 obras eked seeasep ais lat ot Naeem 28 
Piemiecner ot the Fifteenth Century B.C... 2. ope b ee dee nes ae es 34 
Assyrian and Persian Furniture of the Seventh Century B. C............... 35 
Picture of Ancient Greek Sofa and Footstools....... 1s s0. 9:4. come oes te 30 


XV 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


Chairs on Ancient Greek Marble Gravéstones................0+-+-e-+se06 
Small Ancient Greek Bronze Table in the Metropolitan Museum of Art...... 
Ancitnt Greek and sRoman, bronze. Eurmiture.sarciaeid ce ccc adenine 


Ancient Roman Furniture pictured in Marble Relief at the British Museum... 


Modern American Furniture inspired by Ancient Greece.................. 
Ancient Roman Couch in the Metropolitan Museum of Art................. 
Ancient Roman Couch in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Color Plate)..... 
Ancient: Roman Chair and Footstool 2.05. 5. ©. sie. 0 ees 50m): lore eho 


Ancient Roman and Modern American Furniture... 2... .. =. «.<eneleeeene 
Modern American Furniture inspired by Ancient Rome..................; 
Ancient Roman Bronze Candelabra: ... +... 053 0.0008 es see 
Ancient Roman Table Standards in the Metropolitan Museum of Art........ 
Ancient; Roman Marble able Wegsae. aan -a rarer 
Roman Marble Furniture of the First Century A. Di... ).22. 42.5 


Ancient Roman Bronze and Marble Table in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. . 


Ancient Roman Bronze Dining Room Table from Boscoreale, in the Field 
Museum of Natural History. Chicagon sae. seme iter 
Ancient Roman Table im’ the Naples’ Museum... ....2...6 .s)30)ee enn 
Ancient Roman Stool and Couches in the Naples Museum................. 
Ancient Roman Bronze Stand and Tables in the Naples Museum........... 
Ancient Roman Bronze Table and Chair in the Naples Museum............. 
Ancient Roman Chest and X Folding Stool in the Naples Museum.......... 
Model of Byzantine Interior at the Metropolitan Museum of Art........... 
Ancient) Pictures of Byzantine: Chainrsn:). ..)..30) seis ote: it ee 
Byzantine Chair in, Carved Ivory. 70.5.5... 06s «ae okies ee 
Byzantine Chairs, Bench and Table... ....0..5.:5.:.... =e 
Byzantine Chairs pictured in Ancient Manuscripts... ...:. ©. )oe eee 


CHAPTERS Bit 
GOTHIC FURNITURE 


Gothic Dining Room Tables of the middle of the Fifteenth Century......... 
Gothic School Room and Dining’ Room Burniture: 3). eee 


Gothie Bed Room Furniture and Writing Desk. ......... 49.498 PR a, sc : 


Gothic: Furniture and Interiorgis..2)..3.7. «2 cies oo eee in 
French Gothic Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art............... 
French Gothic Cupboard, in Carved Oak... .. 2... 2a...» «leeigisle stein 
French-Flemish Gothic Canopied (Chair: 0.9. oy ee = leit een eee 
Gothic Cupboard and Crédenceés ... 0 stints ind ae oe scien 
Gothie Choir Stalls in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.............- 20063 
French and English Gothic Woodwork and Furniture..............+....+- 
French and English Gothic Furniture «.. (2%)... «1 (sa ee 
Gothic ‘LTracery and Linen-fold Ornament... 2.5%. ¢!. mu 3. nee te 
Details of Gothic Linen-fold® Ornament)... 2 5... 25-3. 2 
French Gothic contrasted with French Renaissance... .... .). 5. s) ene 
French Gothic contrasted with English Gothic. .............;..:5e eee 
English Gothic, Cupboard. i032. 0! ose s as sols sew 0 eet oe vee 
English Gothic Cupboard, and Table..4... 04. vio. 25+. «= else 
Spanish Gothic Chests... .i sie. in's 0s hits elaya> =e )lele facie etait 


XVI 


. 


or St Sr Sr 
& oo 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


es oa rGLEln i COS oon A ae 
Modermurmerican Gothie Church Furniture. ........6000.cacseseecstavveee 


CHAPTER IV 
ORIENTAL FURNITURE 


Ancient Chinese Screen in the Brooklyn Museum (Color Plate)............ 
LSC amo mC eS em LOUSES Gray. eyes aie lee ai sen) s Gyre ieetes seine ode esi va vlna 
Ancient Chinese Lacquer Screen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Peer ecient Clnimese lacquer Screen. 2... cc i ke ee eee 
Duowmimentucutcmure of Ancient Chinese Lacquer...........0.0.0 2.0 eeee es 
ecionrecumesceuurmiture im Everyday Use. ........006 cece cece ee cnane 
PiGienmimenimecomiunniture im New York. .. 2.6.2.0. se cee sees beeen wes 
Pictniimelm«ucsemmurniure im INGw YOR. 02 25 cnc cee once cee eee es es 
Moc emimenmescmnurmbure im New York. . 05... 02 o..0e cee e ens nee sent aee ee 
Peacenim eminedemhiunarrunmeim INew Yorke a. fies oe sae ens oe eee tee ae a 


Decade S674 


olen Gnimeccn @amvied eC ADIMEL 5 4). dno. 6 alate cis w eye y ele eo Sw Fetes Ha ls ea oon 
Movcemeamencan Olinese Lacquered Furniture. .............. 200 ede ee ees 
Morcummamenican (Chinese Lacquered Furniture... 0... 2.0.66 6 cee cee eens 
Ocvimcdewandminsiage a Modern Japanese Residence. ..........++-++0-020-2- 
Pim mma inoacemercption Room... 2, . 06.562. e ee eee ee eee ee me 
arene temienitdine sat IMLCTION. 2... 2 ee ba Gee ee te eee eee ed 
pitimee! ostureo1 Chinese contrasted with Japanese...........6.2+2.eee0-s 
ers mM Leman LAtERIORS sy cfu ess oes ee Soc cu we ewe scene ease 
Persane tues) lacquer Work, and Textiles rich with color...............3. 


CHAPTER V 
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE 


Florentine Italian Renaissance Chest in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


Mera ate MM heme isto cU-1s 20098 Sasip vine eA ere Oe 9 okra naly eles Reals es 
Italian Renaissance Furniture as pictured by the Venetian painter, Carpaccio, 

MeAapieroncnon nie Mitteenth= Century.....9 or .0 +s at shai seul coee dee eee 
Italian Renaissance Cassone in the Metropolitan Museum of Art............ 
eee Me Tee Gaate CCS ES. al, 6. wists ules SG acca al ofrwa wie Bre ae tie me 6 tiles woe eis sues 
Italian Renaissance Chests in the Metropolitan Museum of Art............ 
italian Ghests m the Metropolitan Museum of Art......:...... 000.0005... 


alamsseventeenth Century Walnut Cassone..........-5 5.0. e seen eee 
italiane enaissance Cabinet, and Chest on Stand.:...........5...0...... 
talianetvenaissance Hurniture, now im Americas ss... en... 0... 6 eee ewe es yes 
Italian Renaissance Furniture, Ancient and Modern...................... 
Italian Renaissance Furniture Made in Florence.................++22+200. 
Italian Renaissance Chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.............. 
Ricilennmervenissai Ge Ciltalrs'. c. suc one sraherg cid & at aidnc, o mighane) op wis tete oly), ane Sul us etorie) oheliane 
EVM eTIANGs AN CEM CAlIMetS,.c + = <a «eo sie aliens a she olars assis Minders ot tee fe toues ela nnele 
Italian Renaissance Cabinet Bought in America............05+ esse eeeues 
Italian contrasted with French Renaissance..........225..2seees ee cseeaee 
Italian Renaissance Carved Wood Ceiling. .........2-e eee e eee c cree eee eee 


PAGE 
88 
89 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


Italian Renaissance Carved Walnut Doors we oes eee eeeie arsine ine een 
Italian’ Renaissance. Carved Doors) tacsocia ss soo iele coe iene ett eee een 


Italian Renaissance 


Carved! Wood fand. Initarsia. =. so cle crere -nenaiess one eeneeaeee 


The finest Intarsiasin theyworld 2% cen pb =e ites ee > eee 
The finest Intarsia in the: worldiny. 5. ac eee cea eee each 
The Laurentian Library in Florence, by Michelangelo.........5 4. eee 
The’ Laurentian Library Ceiling’ v.00. «+o» i. Se eae ee 
The Laurentian Library Details 2... j..0.V Gy ne oso hoe cep 
Late Italian Renaissance Woodwork, now in America...............+..+24-. 


CHAPTER VI 
LATER ITALIAN FURNITURE 


Venetian Eighteenth Century Carved, Painted and Gilt Chairs (Color Plate) .. 
Italian Furniture of the Early -Bighteenth Century... 20-0 eee 
Venetian Commode and Chairs of the Eighteenth Century (Color Plate)..... 
Venetian Eighteenth Century Furnitire..............% cesar 
Italian Eighteenth Century Furniture...........:.:5..-. 0-2 
Venetian Eighteenth Century Table and Mirror (Color Plate)............. 
Italian Eighteenth Century Commode.................0. «= sete 
Italian Late Highteenth Century Chairs: ....2....) «0-5 see ‘y aiene Seeaaeae 
Italian Eighteenth Century Furniture...) .......5...- sees 


CHAPTER VII 


FRENCH RENAISSANCE FURNITURE 


French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 


Cabinet and Table Designs by du Cerceau........... 05. sa) : 


Cabinet sc.c oe chance de wk wn cus 6 ee 
Wood Carving so... ccs cee ae obs Bunn eeeeenen 
Carved. Chestsi. 5 56 0..45.254 <i sess 0 ee 
Elaborately: Carved -Chairs. ........ 5.) 
Elaborately Carved Chairs. ......~.. 1. =e 
Chairs ‘and Cabinet... ......5. 2.2). sicily « 0s) oles seen ee 
Chairs and Dresser... . 0. 05.25. 0)s ee hee 
Carved Walnut Chairs....5.: 50.0 25 cere te chee enna 
Carved Walnut Chairs’. +. 2% wis. ¢ o.oo) ene 
Carved “Walnut Chairs’... . 2= 55 12 cs caleie een raeenene r, 
Carved Walnut’ Chairs 02s...) >. ees ee 


Cabinet and Table Designs by du Cerceau:.............:. +2 0 


French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 
French Renaissance 


Carved. Walnut Cabinet: .......i. 4.) a0: eee 


Carved Walnut. Cabinets. ....4.. 424.00) eee 
Carved Walnut Cabinets... 2... 5.0.5.2 0 eee ee 
Carved Walnut Buffet. ....<5..... oo eee 
Cabinets. sis Sie cd's Vs o-00s 3 dum Sere oes ieee 
Credené@:..2-2 sb cscs cna OF ac pede oe eee ee 
Credence: and ‘Cabinet. < .... ».a.% ce sels =e 


French Renaissance Table Designs by du Cerceau......... 1... + see 


XVIII 


PAGE 


136 
137 
138 
139 
140 
141 
142 
143 
144 


146 
150 
151 
152 
153 
154 
155 
156 
157 


160 
164 
165 
166 
167 
168 
169 
170 
171 
172 
173 
174 
175 
176 
iG 
178 
179 
180 
181 
182 
183 
184 


— er = 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


PAGE 
Peeper remnisseance Lable: Designs by du Cerceau.... 2.5.0.0 sc ncaececcsees 185 
brcircumivenaissance Carved Walnut Tables. . 0... 4 scence. seve ee ee ee ees 186 
Heenouenenarssance, Carved Walnut Table... 0.0.0 cee cee ven cece ess cee 187 
Prenchmhenavscance Carved Walnut) Lables......... 6.00 005.2600 e565 508 ve ve 188 
rence wenaissance Carved. Walnut Table. ..:.........00.200ceeceneverens 189 
ikmeneheivenaissance Carved Walnut Tables... 0.0.2.0... c00 ne cc ac eee esseee 190 
French Renaissance Carved Walnut Draw Tables ...................0000% 191 
Pea me CMMI CRAIC OM OLiOI Siar cutte os ac. bore aelaecae leis «sna S aiseenetes @acarsvsyens a elas 192 


CHAPTER VIII 
LATER FRENCH FURNITURE 


French Eighteenth Century Furniture in a New York Residence (Color Plate) 194 
French Eighteenth Century Furniture in a New York Residence (Color Plate) 205 


Sens Om @arvedteand Gilt: Doors. <0. 6. ube eee ce ee Swe cee dee eee ee cee 206 
So EI ae TOS Fil le a ei a ee 207 
Sma RIUE ROMO AIITICL. fp. ier nce aie oe eee te ke ees sane es 208 
per TUN PDOAIG a5 os 3 eee es bet ties Sede te eee w ene’ 209 
Louis XIII Furniture in the Victoria and Albert Museum.................. 210 
Preach scvenvcenth Century Walnut Cabinet....... 0.0.05... cece eee eens 201 
DE Oieme eM Me AMON CMO I OULLC. a5). citi nate cic eee sles hee cibie eee we wis gine Ae 
HonsmelvaGrandemarmoire by Boulle...4..... 50062 ee ke be ete wens ane 213 
POP Ne VAR ES OIE eM EMUPMIGUINCs 6% 2s ee ce ei ee we ee eee ace © a be se wien aie s 214 
GM NGIVMNLNUICNITEUEC tree: SE occ Ge Gockesore sO cite, treme ele bad sew cides a ee O15 
Poe) Ve naireeim the Metropolitan Museum of Art..:.............2.53 216 
SMP OUECOMEBASLC with LOUIS XLV c. cocnle ce ee i cocwm cmt eS vis oe nlnew bas Onu7 
Mouis XV Furniture in the Victoria and Albert-Museum.................... 218 
Louis XV Woodwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art...........5...... 219 
ioe eniarguetry contrasted with Lacquer. ............0..00s0de scenes 220 
French Rococo Marquetry Desk and Lacquered Commode.................. 221 
eer evecciomade for the King... 1.2.5... sc eee ee eee ee be oes 222 
lonewaveconirastedawith Wouig XVI... coc ce ee we gs ede ete nes caewos 223 
Womcexeveconirasted with LouiseX Vis. .. <a cece ace cee see meres dese. 224 
one xeveconitrasted with Wowis X VES... c.0 sche cess etre enn e cw woecces 225 
ouismaveconibasted with louis OX Vil. okies ccc ee ea cera se ues oe Se ees 226 
onismaveconprastea with Wouis, XVI... ie. ees Sent Sie s ot ees cece 227 
oni evslenurniturerin the: Petit Crianon. 03. 2.2% .-ocass backs wena ae wae 228 
Louis XVI Woodwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.................. 229 
pose ave lervoomuate bontainebleaus ..o.< 32 f.. dee oh doe beeen cs ble ee ee 230 
AP THT ROV AMELIE LE RIO Nts tare ty ey. ci cestscict Cito yale mews sel Gee PEURGnURLA e Psts etches capt 231 
ema AIMELL LENE UN Ce wae cic: ccelte yooh) dcctays @ a ohn O Reenet atime peel das es Owais Hie. 232 
MUP esa iy RiGSENEE so 58 ois oe wie o's «ele nce ane: sel oral av a a 6 shone 4 alle e 233 
EE Mere Desk. Oper? olor cin .0 8 vue ewe ¥en thee owls vip» en's Salers bos 234 
ene eeeemiindoen Desk, Closed 035.2 ccc. s.stows so sia ntelade we nim yele ane aire eo 235 
Dei we ey Mala ll MGlockoin the. Louvre; oc «of a8 «cm a oc2 oes vis tones bet ake oisre 236 
Poni sVveletablecand Desk by Riesener: ... 2. < sele seus am sie oes sist clecapeiole oc cushalere 237 
Panic ealehurniture in the: Petit Trianon. 02.2. .0 ascents som eel eles 238 
Pm a onmnode: Dy Riesener :i. oo. foe. soon wk aoe gale eee alemien © © melee wumusne sis 239 
Pons elehirnitire of Contrasting ‘Types. o<.)..0. cncctets. a spate a eee acne ine 240 
meee soins of Contrasting Typés..%. <0. i. vec ss > sn bmn g ele aera elo es 241 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


PAGE 
Louis: XVI Commodésii', <)Qiiste ness er vee ae Se ado eee ate 24:2 
Louis XVI Commode attributed ‘to Beneman > .2.).....4..-¢+.0 00050 one 243 
Lous XV 1" Commode by» Schneiders erate acetate ee nea 244 
HouisexX Vil Gommodesiibys Rieseneisnieserh sec site ci ae eee ee 245 
Louis; XVI Commodes: by Rubestuck and) by Riesener. 2.) -eeis = et eee 246 
Louis XVI Commodes by Riesener.. i 50...0 2205. 2: seed Q47 
Louis XVi-Chairs by Jacobs. wicks. 2 t.s) os ee a eee ee 248 
Louis XVI Cabinet from the Wertheimer Collection...............+.e0000 24.9 
Louis XVI Cabinet in the Louvres... 25.205 «am nes «geil oer 250 
Louis XV: Cabinet in the Wallace:Collection. = -s. 5... .-t ss - eee 251 
Louis XVI Writing: Tables. soc. foe ie os © ote cite aie le er 252 
Louis XVI Furniture’of Contrasting: Types... 01 <a) 46 deur) i ee 253 
Louis XVI. Jewel’ Cabinet? es 85.244 '5 «© «=, wrisis ae ole «smear 254 
French ‘Directoire.and Empire Furniture...:.......-.-20. - 51s 255 
French Empire. Chair and Sideboard... ..- S..4a+.<00 «>. 0 sem eee ee 256 
Empire Table by Percier and Fontaine i227. 25>. ssc. ws am ae 257 
Empire Chairs in the Grand ‘Trianon +... 2..<.2...-< «2 -)- = 258 
Empire Jewel Cabinet by Jacob Desmalter........ 2... 0. sae eee 259 
Empire: Furniture in the Hotel Beauharnais....:.. 5... . = ese 260 
Empire Furniture by Percier and Fontaine.......-..... 0.5 0seeeee 261 
Empire Furniture in New York Museums..........%-. s« s: 4) seen 262 
CHAPTER IX 
SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, FLEMISH, DUTCH AND 
SWISS FURNITURE 

Spanish and Italian Furniture Harmonized (Color Plate).....:........... 264 
Spanish Renaissance Furniture from Private Collections................... 269 
Three Spanish Renaissance Varguetios). 45 2. cree ecko) tee eect 270 
Spanish Renaissance Cupboard, Chair and Door... ...... 05.02 seer 271 
Spanish Renaissance Bench and ‘Tables. ...... -...... 2. 5 272 
Three Spanish Renaissance Varguefios, .... 00.4 1.03 1.2 se 273 
Spanish Mudejar, Gothic and Renaissance: Furniture... .. <2... eee 274 
Spanish Renaissance Trunks, Stand and Chair... >. 32... 22-4. 2p 
Spanish Renaissance Chest, Chair, Screen and Cabinet... ... >a 276 
Spanish Choir Stalls and Bench....:.......52.6.508 0010s = oer aT 
Spanish Table, Cabinet"and Chest-...... 525.15 ss aeiele tier 278 
Spanish Renaissance Secretaries. ~ 0.2 J.0. «oe sehen) een 279 
Four Spanish Seventeenth Century Chairs)>. <0 5.4.2.» 3-2 eee 280 
Spanish Chairs of the Early Seventeenth Century... 0..... 5. sie een “281 
Spanish Chairs of the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries. ..... 282 
Spanish Chairs of the Highteenth Century 7). .20.5 <9 ee oto eee 283 
Spanish Secretary of the Late Seventeenth Century. ...... 00) vse 284 
Spanish Furniture of Contrasting Types........2..2. +... ane eee ++ 285 

Spanish Desks, Table and Mirror of the Late Seventeenth and Early Eight- 
eenth Centuries 2.05) (65 so0 bad ood ts dou ae « false 61m one ae 286 
Spanish Illuminated Leather Screen of the Seventeenth Century............ 287 
Spanish Chinoiseries )'si<:02 9c std ne As oe ne Vie oe a ee eg Oe 288 
Spanish Eighteenth Century Bed. 0.222.222... .. 5 =. 5 + 55 nee ele 289 
Leather-Covered:. Furniture as: 5.50 55852 6 a nce ss ee ee oe nena 290 


xx 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


PAGE 
imnipurercoverco. with Leather or Textiles: . 2.50. sce 0 sce se caves anes 291 
Pemueucsemiichteenth Century Chairs. .25. 0... ns eee ene e ne vens 292 
Portuguese Chairs of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries............ 20903 
Serra eMC COO TE UTTUIEG. ico fess fo ele AW Es ee How etna Caden ees eda ee 204 
Siadienmomerican seventeenth Century Furniture... .......5.2.s0020505% 205 
Spanish American Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Furniture...... 296 
Spemohenmerican kaghtcenth Century Furniture. ... 2.2)... cee eee ee ne 297 
Spanish American Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century 

PESRrarver tea Te COMM Mee ect cc at cre Se fag sais oseeebatavralel wide. Hudvanel w wud se) Soave are 298 
iae wisnecwaiteror ithe seventeenth Century... 2.6 .c 8 ce eet eee ee ns 299 
Flemish Cabinet and Panel of the Early Seventeenth Century............... 300 
Petrie Oe EMC RINCENGTIANIGS. ii. 6 iw wo See ees Ce ere ta wae sane bende 301 
eremeetO Mee NER NELHETIANAS. 26 ace cc cs te ee ek nee eee eee Rese ewes 802 
Seen mente ONC LUCKIANOS Jc 56 et sn oe Bae Sein oe de ened ee ewes 303 
ereeernmromencm Ne Nerlandg), 0. 2. ise ee re te waw ee be ecb aed eneeee 304 
Furniture of the Netherlands in Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 305 
Furniture of the Netherlands as painted by Pieter de Hooch................ 306 
Furniture of the Netherlands as painted by Cornelius Troost............... 307 
a eee MOM NMC TIANOS 05 fs. sels ea ed ae eles ee Be ee eb ee a eee 308 
Netherlandish Eighteenth Century Painted Corner Cabinet................ 309 
irmanumeewor tom etherlanids ..: 00. .s oe cee ne ce ee eb ee ce ee ee eae 310 
a recemmrmiturese: the Seventeenth Century... .- 21... ce cece ee ee eee eews 311 

CHAPTER X 
ENGLISH TUDOR AND STUART FURNITURE 

Parleetiraberian inlaid Woodwork... 2.6.66 c cee eee nese ee ewe ees 314 
Pa somzapemaneCarved Wood Paneling......:....2.estecescse segues 321 
Pee ermnnizapetuem WOOO WORK 296. . es e ee ee ce ew ee sue ew ee 322 
Old English Woodwork and Plaster, now in America...................05. 323 
Old English Weodwork and Plaster, now in America.................0005: 324 
Old English Woodwork and Plaster, now in America.............+.....0.. 325 
inewemsconean Woodwork and Furniture... 060... esas ee tee new eae 326 
Poichecoticcand Elizabethan Chests. ...........000secb one vee eneewees 327 
Pie ee Mea Dea MESES s o.)a sd sisis sn) se Ge ts ce gw eoars § os wh eens ome awe Dees ees 328 
ram ee MO WESES hes oe ceo vs ialy 6 Fk a ne Oo ae A wey wd Fe Ble eee ws 329 
OUSESHES, LN CGS" CICS A GSS aa 230 
er MEMO IEASEIME NOCVLES fe oi aes wes cee ble evade coe ew Dewey oe 331 
Posisesevenveenth Century Chests of Drawers... i ...6.5 2 seca needeeeee 332 
Pierre entry Furniture. 26 .i. ses ve ce ned ea om de wigee es a 333 
Sse ye eum Gtr eCl MU ITIATCUTC ava cacs hla eierefa sD Aid visysleees eeuelie «he © ep ere ieile «elena emake 334 
Preiemaconcan Cupboard and Table. .....:..600.0naens estate eae neuns 335 
SRR ar rere TITETIN Coot ca) fa. alle Sno qoah'ol « wtrantes aes @ Share ae Gym ew NO. aha Mapenes oye 336 
English Charles II Chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.............. 337 
English Chairs of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries................ 338 
English Charles II Walnut Chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art........ 339 
English Marquetry of William and Mary, and Anne................-+++05. 340 
English William and Mary Marquetry Cabinets............- 0s. see eeeeeee 341 
Queen Anne Lacquer contrasted with William and Mary Marquetry.......... 342 
English William and Mary Marquetry Cabinet........... 0052. -- ese eeeeee 343 
English Baroque Furniture in Cane and Walnut...........--.-+.+es seen 344 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


PAGE 
English Seventeenth Century Marquetry Furniture, .%.....2. + 0+. a ee B45 
English Queen. Anne Secretaries. ace aiewins shes ct ce ee ee 346 
Grinling Gibbon Carved Panels from Windsor Castle and Hampton Court.... | 347 
Grinling Gibbon: Mirror-Framé.< 9262.4 .1s.=|jhebtsn os ale eles «hee 348 

CHAPTER XI 
LATER ENGLISH FURNITURE 
Georgian Pine Paneling from Westminster: ...~ 5... so 2 0s ee 350 
Early Georgian contrasted with Chippendale... ..3...«;.. 2... ene Bou 
English Kighteenth Century Chests of Drawers. «.-)..5.~ <<. .e)00 eee 358 
English Chinese Chippendale... 0.0.5 sc). p 0s wie ols sw otis ade aye oe er B56 
English Chinese Cinippendale cau 2 9 ce eee Pree 360 
Chippendale: Chairs:in the- Metropolitan’ Museum of Arts... eee 361 
Ancient and Modern Chippendale: Furniture. ..:.......+. .90)= geen 362 
Chippendale Carved Mahogany Bookease......-..0:.. + wc on see 363 
Chippendale Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art................. 364 
Chippendale Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art................. 365 
Chippendale Rococo contrasted with Adam Classic...) 9). -1= eee 366 
Chippendale Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art................. 367. 
Famous English Fourposter of the Adam period.........<../: sie 368 
Famous Painted Furniture of the Adam period... ... 2... ..0.: eee 369 
English Chippendale contrasted with Adam.....2.2....... +.) seen 370 
English Adam Commode si... 6. gcne.is’s a oe Hasse ents ole ah © tin 371 
Hepplewhite Furniture Designs. 21.5... 2 0 6 dolce ae ws se oe 372 
English Chairs of the Adam period... :...5.. 54.5 2+4- > «05> or pics) 
English Chippendale, Adam, and Empire Mirrors. ...-. <2. ~ sie 374 
English Classic Revival Mirrors: 0... 02.0302 nes see « «oe oie 
English Eighteenth Century Mirrors. ...... 2... sac .05 6 we oe ~ 276 
English Kighteenth Century Mirrors............. y goa a pee) ooo 377 
English Sheraton Settees .. 63). ssa. de sas 500s cena Oe 6 ete an 378 
English Sheraton. Sideboards... .... 0.0 0.- ss ¢ eu cen sacs see 379 
Small Tables of Contrasting Styles...........0.005..- .90 ee 380 
English Late Eighteenth Century Desk... 7.... 7.4. ...0. eee en 381 
English Sheraton contrasted with Chippendale....... 5... «== 382 
Ancient English Cedar Furniture, made in Bermuda... =. 22 eee 383 
Ancient English Cedar Furniture, made in Bermuda... ......2...5 eee 384 
CECE Th ge 
AMERICAN COLONIAL FURNITURE 

American Colonial Furniture in the Essex Institute...................0.00% 386 
Ameri¢an Late Seventeenth Century Chests)... 202) «106 2 se eee 391 
American Late Seventeenth Century Tables... 2-5 0... .n0 ee 392 
American Late Seventeenth Century Oak Chest ..:....).):.) eee 393 


American Eighteenth Century Craftsmanship in the Metropolitan Museum of 


DG eRe MS rene, Cerrar ger At aa ie MPRA RE 394 
American Eighteenth Century Colonial Woodwork.....................0¢ 395 
SOX ET 


ewe + 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


American Colonial Highboys in the Metropolitan Museum of Art............ 
Ancient English Lacquered Highboys contrasted with American.............. 
manerican kococo Highboys, Ancient and Modern...............0...00008- 
Pmeient) Mnglish and American Furniture contrasted.............-0+0-50%5 
NE EMTS AITS Le aly. cd yelp ole Seales que tie ee bps wae we pe dnd sales 
Early American Chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art................. 
BAT OST CIES SS re 
Moremerinawev indsor Chairs: oc). 0... eve bee ce ce ee eee ones 
Details of Rococo Mahogany Furniture by William Savery of Philadelphia... . 
American Chippendale Tables in Mahogany and Marble.................... 
Peevesnae american. oheraton Chairs... 6... 0.60. e eee cee ene e sees 
SI TN LMR SEV IES ..c yo ek os ee ee elec ee Sa ee ewe mene ne 
American Eighteenth Century Furniture in the Brooklyn Museum........... 
American Eighteenth Century Furniture in the Brooklyn Museum........... 
American Eighteenth Century Furniture at India House, New York.......... 
American Eighteenth Century Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.. 
Aucienterngish and’ American Painted Furniture............:0.5.02000+- 
Wmeient American Cabinet with Clock, style of Sheraton................... 
pinerican ticpplewhite and Chippendale Chairs..............0..000ceeees 
murcnteamerican oheraton and Hmpire Furniture..............2 060000 n 
eC Ae eee NU REL eW GCs PUTULUTC, co cise. 's cisiclse secs ne eeee ceeeeeces es 
mimerican Woodwork of the Early Nineteenth Century...................+.. 
Ie MC UPTHUULE. fie 8 si oo os ales heed a ne ee omen esse eeaeece 
English Chippendale contrasted with American Phyfe..................04. 
SeeE UATE ENY LEM ULC EORTC a lem cons so noes ee ao eee 6h eee cee see wine aes 


CPA ih, exit 
MODERN EUROPEAN FURNITURE 


eeomereneneramiure by Gallerey... 6.622 ion cee eee ee ene ee 
enetueercueneturniture by Fernand Nathan..........00.60.e00eeeeee- 
Nioccrumurenciimeurnmiuute by Mercier Freres .. 2.62 0.65 es cow ewe soe os 
Modern French Furniture at the Annual Paris Salon....................+. 
Modenrmeomencam Loms XV and XVI Furmiture.....2...5..0%85.022+5008: 
IMIG CHMMIREMCMMMETIENTGUELE: 0. 6 cc ce dose cunelew ls ave bieie oe sable wisi aie emits sale © athe 
Modern English Furniture, Inspiration of the Eighteenth Century.......... 
PTE ME UIRTINEUTE (yoo ey fe ngs Fenn Riele we Ode ea Ra SRE Oe 
Memieomenelisn Inexpensive PurnitOre. 0.0.65 2.0. nk es ie ec tw ene 
DigderneGeriiineandeAustrian Hurniture.. .c.:.204 00520 ars ces cee see ee ces 
Modern German Furniture............ Un NER Tag acy AND, Oo no Ear PM eae ee 
Modenmcermancand Austrian Furniture. ..6....62 0.52002 06c00s ce ae ae ene 
Moueumvusirian Furniture by Joseph Urban... ... 6:00.00 6sseceeeses eves 


CHAPTER XIV 
MODERN AMERICAN AND MISSION FURNITURE 


Modern American Interior with Ancient Furniture (Color Plate)........... 
Hialian Renaissance as interpreted in America... .... 000.22 nsec cne ec ceee 
XXIII 


LIST OF PLATES (Continued) 


Italian Renaissance as interpreted int Americas.) laa etn ee eee 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford White.............. 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford White.............. 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford: Whité...... ose 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford White.............. 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford White.............. 
Italian Renaissance as interpreted by the late Stanford White 
Modern American Chest of Italian Inspiration (Color Plate) 
Italian Renaissance Furniture made in America 
Italian Renaissance Furniture made in Americal...) sei ee ee 
Modern American Furniture of Renaissance Inspiration..........:.......... 
Modern American Interior by Albert Herter (Color Plate) 
Modern American Louis XV_ Interior 
Modern American’ Louis XVI Interior. 05.2 <r oer 
Modern American Louis XVI Drawing Room... .... 2...) 25... eeeeee 
Modern American Furniture Inspired by the Italian Renaissance 
Modern American Furniture of English Jacobean Inspiration 
Modern American Jacobean’ Reproductions. =... 3... see 
Modern American Furniture by WalteryMellor. o> > 2.5...) iene 
Modern American Reproductions of Ancient English Furniture............. 
Modern American Reproductions of English William and Mary and Queen 

ANNE 16.65 955 Ses osic'a Ae wuss ea a “ela aye 5» old abe pt kone at err 
Modern American Interpretation of English Georgian 
Modern American Interpretation of English Georgian..........«........+% 
Modern American Reproductions of English and “French Chairs oc a2on semen 
Modern American Machine-made Chairs and Tables.......: 50s eee 
Modern American Furniture inspired by Chinese Chippendale.............. 
Modern American Lacquered Furniture of English Inspiration 
Simple Modern American Interiors 
Modern American Version of Adam... 3 244 ec. 20 ue see ee 
Modern American Interpretations of Colonial Bed Rooms 
Modern American Colonial Interiors 
Modern, American Rustic Furniture... ........ Js). let ae ee 
Modern American Miniature Model Rooms 
Ancient American Mission Furniture 
Ancient American Mission Furniture 
Modern American Mission Furniture 


Cera ne me OL iy ye ed 


Ce a a ee ee re re mr mr wc eto Oo 


oe © oe, © 0) @ ue 0” e BP 8 <0 (acco) 6 @ wi SuUlisuel Lens mene enn En 
oe 8 80s © a 0 0 oe 0 0 9 © © s (@ ©: aie @) ef alee teen einn slots 


© 6 0) es 20 6 0 6 6 216 0 0 6 Sv 6 as wlleielu sis elelslelsosialumy 


CORRECTIONS 
Descriptive titles under the two reliefs at the top of page 22. 
in the Egyptian chapter, should be transposed; also the descriptive 


titles under the two Empire chairs at the top of page 255, of the 
chapter on Later French Furniture. 


al al aa sai es 


Child’s size, in the Cairo Museum. From the tomb of Iouya and Touyou, great-grand- 
parents of Queen Ankhnesamen, wife of Tutankhamen. The cushion is the original one 


EGYPTIAN CHAIR OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTUR 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


CHAPTER | 
EGYPTIAN FURNITURE 


Egypt is the great-grandmother of us all. Compared with Kgyp- 
tian, all other ancient wooden furniture is modern. Preserved in the 
tombs of Egypt, it has survived to tell us that centuries before Helen 
of Troy eloped with Paris, and more than a millennium before Alex- 
ander the Great conquered the world, and three millenniums before 
the Florentine Renaissance, Egypt had already for fifteen hundred 
years, been creating furniture forms that are the ancestors of our own. 

Ancient Egyptian wooden furniture excels not only in antiquity, 
but also in quantity. We have more of it than from all other countries 
in the world, previous to Kuropean Gothic; more than from Babylonia 
and Assyria, Greece and Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and early 
Persia, China and India, combined. 

Compared with the concrete evidence telling us the facts about 
Egyptian architecture and furniture of the Age of the Pyramids— 
that is io say, of the first half of the Third Millennium B. C.—the 
amount of similar evidence from all other countries is trivial. Right 
here, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, we have an 
ancient Egyptian stone house, erected in the Twenty-Seventh Cen- 
tury B. C., buried for millenniums beneath the drifting sands, recently 
excavated stone by stone and brought thousands of miles west to 
give us information about the life of our architectural and decorative 
ancestors. This house is the so-called Mastaba of Perneb, the after- 
death home of Perneb, one of the high Egyptian government officials 
of the Age of the Pyramids. 

It is of course possible that we may some time in the future 
discover concrete remains of the art and architecture of other coun- 
tries showing a development parallel with that of Kgypt. But it is 
extremely improbable. At present, claims for other countries of an 
early artistic and architectural activity at all comparable with that of 
Egypt lack facts to support them. Crete and Babylonia certainly 

1 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


trailed Egypt, while the concrete evidence from China is compar- 
atively modern. The recent attempts to assert for early American 
art and architecture an antiquity at all comparable with that of 
Egyptian art and architecture are ridiculous. 

The Mastaba of Perneb gives Americans an opportunity to 
study first-hand not only an Ancient Egyptian building but also 
Ancient Egyptian mural colored reliefs picturing Ancient Egyptians 
alive and in action. These reliefs also show Ancient Egyptian furni- 
ture, notably the ox-leg chairs in which Perneb is seated. 

Other mural reliefs and gravestones of early Egypt, show not 
only Ancient Kgyptian chairs and stools of many varieties but also 
stands and tables and couches and beds. Still other reliefs show 
artists engaged in the actual production of works of art, carving, 
sculpture, making furniture, weaving. Miniature models in clay 
reveal to us the forms of early Kgyptian peasant houses. Mural re- 
liefs picture for us the beautiful palaces in which nobles lived. At 
Tell-el-Amarna, and elsewhere, we are gradually unearthing the 
foundations and the brilliantly pictured walls of royal palaces. 

The tomb of Tutankhamen, of the Fourteenth Century B. C., 
is not so important for the furniture and treasures it contained as 
for the general interest it has aroused throughout the world in the 
other treasures of Ancient Kgypt, previously discovered and to be 
seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the 
Louvre, the Turin Museum, the Berlin Museum, the Brussels Muse- 
um, and elsewhere, as well as in the Cairo Museum and in the Valley 
of the Tombs. Nothing quickens modern life like inspiration from 
ancient life. Nothing has inspiration for modern artists and artisans 
like the splendid accomplishments of past Ages. 

Most of the Ancient Egyptian wooden furniture that has come 
down to us was made in the Fifteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 
B. C. The two most important sources are the tombs of Iouya and 
Touyou, and of ‘Tutankhamen. Interesting miniature wooden models 
of the Twentieth Century B. C., are those from the tomb of Mehenk- 
wetre, now in the Cairo Museum and in the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art. 

Besides wooden furniture from Ancient Egypt, we also have 
stone furniture in the form of chairs and thrones bearing the portrait 
statues of gods, pharaohs and nobles. Many of the stone chairs date 
from the time of the Pyramids, and are a thousand years older than 

Q 


HG PCAN 


the wooden chairs. These stone chairs are uniformly simple in shape 
as befits the monumental character of stone, often square blocks cov- 
ered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, sometimes with backs only five 
or six inches high, curved full on the side next the body, sometimes 
with high backs. 

Besides the actual chairs in stone and wood, we have hundreds 
of pictures of furniture of all kinds, on colored gravestones and 
mural reliefs and in papyrus manuscripts. Among the more luxurious 
of the chairs, are those reproduced in color elsewhere in this volume, 
chairs with high backs and soft squash cushions, from the tombs of 
the Kings of the Empire Period (1580-945 B. C.). 

Eixtraordinarily interesting are the ox and lion legs of Ancient 
Egyptian chairs and couches and beds. In the earlier period, ox legs 
were more usual and testify to the importance of agriculture in early 
Egypt. Later, lion legs became more common, indicating perhaps 
the increasing importance of armies, and of lion-like bravery, as Kgypt 
developed into a mighty Empire. 

This animal furniture is more truly alive than any other good 
furniture ever made. The front legs of the chairs and couches are 
the front legs of oxen or lions; the rear legs of chairs and couches are 
the hind legs of oxen or lions. So that, if the chair or couch were 
metamorphosed into life, it would actually be able to walk without 
splitting apart like Roman lion-legged furniture, or marching off in 
four different directions like Louis XIV deer-feet chairs. 

Often, over the front leg of Ancient Kgyptian lion-legged chairs 
and couches, we find the head of the lion, or a human head, the latter 
suggesting an analogy with sphinxes. 

I have often wondered about the ancestry of Roman and Re- 
naissance furniture legs, with lion or human head growing out of lion 
leg. The answer, I believe, is to be found in the Egyptian ancestry of 
such forms. The Romans took the idea from the front leg, with head, 
of Egyptian animal furniture, but instead of the front leg used the 
rear leg which gives the concave form that Romans liked. 

A vivid picture of a lion chair complete with head, is contained 
in the portrait of Amenhotep III, reproduced on another page. 
Another is one of the chairs reproduced in color, from the Valley of 
the Kings. An actual sphinx chair in concrete wooden form is that 
of Princess Sitamon, the head being that of the Princess herself. 

One of the chairs reproduced in color, from the Valley of the 

3 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Kings, shows a Nubian and a bearded Syrian captive bound to the 
X frame; the Syrian captive bound with the papyrus that stands for 
Northern Egypt, the Nubian captive bound with the lotus that stands 
for Southern Egypt. 

Another of the chairs illustrated in color, from the Valley of the 
Kings, shows a sphinx, symbolic of Egypt, triumphant over the 
prostrate form of a Syrian captive. Below are pictured the lotus 
and the papyrus of the Double Kingdom, of Southern and of North- 
ern Kgypt, which King Menes is said to have united about 3400 B. C. 

An interesting feature of some of the chairs is the double back 
which can be seen clearly in the illustrations of the chair from the 
Museum of the New York Historical Society and in the chair of 
Princess Sitamon. The inner back comes forward below and _ is 
shaped to fit the body. The outer back is a supporting frame. This 
is good decoratively as well as solid constructively and I should not be 
surprised to see it copied in some of the reproductions and adaptations 
of Egyptian furniture that will soon be in vogue. 

The circular inlays on the chair in the Museum of the New York 
Historical Society, and the carving on the chair illustrated in color 
as the frontispiece of this volume, as well as on the chair of Princess 
Sitamon, are of extraordinary merit. The carving on the legs of the 
bed illustrated is more than excellent; it is marvelous. It shows a 
successful compromise between fidelity to nature and the convention- 
alization necessary for decorative rhythm and for use value which has 
seldom been paralleled in any Age. 

We have considerable evidence regarding the upholstery of 
Ancient Kgyptian furniture. The cushion illustrated in our frontis- 
piece is the original cushion. The plaited fibres on the Egyptian bed 
are original, as are also the fibre and leather seats of the stools illus- 
trated, and the plaited string seat of the chair of Princess Sitamon. 
Huge soft squash cushions are shown in the chairs pictured in color 
from the Valley of the Kings. 

The rich color of some Egyptian furniture is suggested by our 
frontispiece. The coloring is purely decorative and intended pri- 
marily to enhance distinction of form. 

The gravestone of Nenwaf at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
not only shows lion-legged chairs and round tables but it shows 
them in use, and it illustrates a stage in the development from the 
“Squat” Age, when people sat on the floor, to the “Upright” Age, 

4 


EGYPTIAN 


when people sit from sixteen to twenty inches above the floor. The 
young daughter does not sit on her chair, which is lower than the 
others, but half-squats on it. It will be noticed that all of these four 
chairs have double backs. 

The importance of the lotus in the life of Ancient Egypt is 
shown by the full-blown flowers of father and son, and by the buds 
of mother and daughter. I feel sure that if today a distinction were 
made between the use of flowers and buds, the ladies would get the 
flowers. 

‘I almost forgot to speak of the extraordinary carving of the ivory 
ox-legs illustrated, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Like the 
legs of most Kgyptian animal furniture, they are supported on spools 
with horizontal fluting. ‘The purpose of these spools seems to me to 
have been primarily decorative. 

One of the folding stools illustrated from the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, is an extraordinary piece of furniture. Aided per- 
haps by branches shaped in the growing, the ancient maker has 
adorned the four legs, and terminated the two shoes, with ducks’ 
heads, marking the eyes and nostrils with inlays of ivory and ebony. 
The way in which the legs flatten out into duck-bills, mortised at the 
tip into the shoes, and in which the duck heads of the two shoes curve 
back to meet the body, is delightfully naturalistic and altogether 
decorative as well as perfectly sane construction. ‘The seat rails of 
this folding stool are pierced with holes for the upholstery. 


Ox legs of couch, in ivory. E 
Note the supporting spools : 


Wooden couch with ox legs, made before the 
Pyramids. Note the spools on which the legs stand 


EGYPTIAN FURNITURE OVER FIVE THOUSAND YEARS OLD IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ARI 


(3) 


(4) (5) 


(1), (2), (8) Upholstered in fibre; (4) in leather. (5) Note the ducks’ 
heads formed by natural growth of the wood, plus inlays of ivory and ebony 


EGYPTIAN FURNITURE 3,500 YEARS OLD IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


7 


APTOS [BMO IFT YIOK MON IY} Jo wunasnyY ayy up “Auoqa puke suoq Jo sAvTUL avpNoTO ayy 
a]0N ‘ode savokt Qog'g aao ydkSY ur ape Svolay UT {eyo UapOOM jsapfO dy} JO SMOIA OMT, 


Squat chair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


<] 
rk / wi 


Below, from ancient mural picture, stools, chairs, and beds, of the period of Tutank- 
hamen. Note on the two beds, the head-rests that served instead of pillows. Above, 
«a mural picture of the Twentieth Century B. C., furniture makers at work 


ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FURNITURE AND FURNITURE MAKING 


9 


mera 


Two views of a miniature model in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from the tomb of 
Mehenkwetre. 

Below, garden porch of an ancient Egyptian house. Note the lotus columns in front and 
the papyrus columns behind; also the window on the right, the large door in the middle, and 
the small door on the left. Above, the doors and window from the inside. Above the large 
door is a latticed light. The doors have horizontal braces, the window vertical slits to let 
the air through 


EGYPTIAN DOORS AND WINDOWS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY B. C. 


10 


— a a 


II 


WOASAW OULVO AHL NI “Od AUNAINAD HINAALYNOd FHL 4O SHIVHO WHUV NVIIdADY 


uamMeyyurNy, JO efi ‘SusmMevsouyyuy useny Fo syuaiedpur.s 
-yeais ‘nofnoy, puke vAnoy JO quo} 94} WorF, Wey spy 


aoardsuoay patopoo oy} UT parnjord areyo s.pyitfo oy} JO MITA Youg 


EGYPTIAN ROYAL CHAIRS AS PICTURED 3,000 YEARS AGO 


12 


SI 


OOV SUVA 000° CHUNLOId SV SHIVHO IVAOU NVILIADA 


PTAG AAR Lee 
PEL LIE LG 
eG ajuk ‘ 
Ua te oa Ge Yo oe 
ep eet manana 
peu peeeeage| 


WWW aa 


een! bhatt 
eeeyore AAI 4 


eerrec eee eRninrren nike 
PRECECOORR PEL OPOR EY EUODE 
Wit eebeeoiuaiper ol eneepe canny 


mal 
LL 


Hi 


— 


7 
Z 


AMOINAO HLINADLYAON AHL NI LdkDD NI WAV “WOMSOW ONL 


nodnoy, pue vAnoy JO qwWo} 94} Woy “areyo 94} JO Youq oy} Jo Vpisur oy} UO yoTqnop ur savadde ssouayty poaqured 
asoyM WOU} ssaoulig JO spreijiod viv speay parvo syy, ‘speey ueUINY puv s8aq uor, YIM xuTyds v st aAreYyd aq], 


Outside of right arm. The Goddess Thoneris between dancing figures of Bes 


aed a aS “ew hii : 


Outside of left arm. Three dancing figures of Bes 


CHAIR OF PRINCESS SITAMON (OUTSIDE OF ARMS) 


15 


i 
q 
be 


Chair of Princess Sitamon. Inside of back showing doublet portrait of the Princess 


Chair of Princess Sitamon. Inside of left arm showing her hand- 
maidens bringing offerings. The inside of the right arm is a replic 


CHAIR OF PRINCESS SITAMON (INSIDE OF BACK AND ARMS) 


16 


nO 
SdOlMdad LNAYAAdIG AO SUIVHO IVAOU NVILMADA LNAIONV ONILSVULNOO 


Wy JO uMeasnyy uvyppodoreW ey} UL 9UOJSoARAS poyured pure paeAteo Vv UO ‘let[Iwa 10“) “gq AdnjUeD YUEN, sy} 
Wooly UY QYSLI oyy UQ “D ‘gq AinjueD YyZUIe}.1N0y 943 JO SuUUUTsaq ay} WoAF ‘Ty dayoyusury Jo «eyo 4J°T 94} UD 


= 


im a 


O°5ii fF 
pam Bal 


B, 
i. 


Lt oH 


ANGEL: 


2b 


18 


Y 


; 
4 
8 
se! 


wij 


S ERS 


. ERR 


Dinner party after the Egyptians developed chairs 


THE “SQUAT” AGE CONTRASTED WITH THE “CHATR™ AGE 


18 


In the Cairo Museum; from the tomb of Iouya and Touyou. Below, bed with 
lion legs that, as usual, face away from the foot of the bed. Above, out- 
side of the footboard of another bed, with gilt plaster panels in low relief 


EGYPTIAN BEDS OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY B. C. 


Luv dO WOASAW NVITTIOdCOULAN AHL NI ANOLS GHAUVO NI GHUNLOIRd SHIVHO NVILIADW 


‘J -q Arnquag yqueszino.y Ayre OQ -q Arnqusg YyyuIe}Moy Ape 


* 


ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STOOL AND SMALL BENCH IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF 


PA 


ART 


feitts 


i 
4 
7 
: 
From a stone relief of the Sixth Cen- Irom a carved stone coffin of 
tury B. C. showing a bentwood stool the Twenty-first Century B. C. 


sea 


Miniature funerary models of chair, bed, and trunks. 
From the tomb of Mehenkwetre. ‘Twentieth Century B. C. 


Miniature model of a folding bed, in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. Empire Period (1580-1150 B. C.) 


ANCIENT PICTURES AND MODELS OF EGYPTIAN FURNITURE 


29 


nt u ‘ fais 
! ——, \ : 
> Bp DOD WN Jian. ort 
fi 


Atom 
MUNN 


’ Hay 8 . ip sie 
4 i TOU OLE 
Q\ 
¢ Wt 
sis, 


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ote 


PEG WARP BEAM | , 
E TULULILOL) L 


WARP THREADS —4 \U | | 


" Wty 
ith atl : 


FINISHED CLOTH 


BREAST BEAM BREAST BEAM 


Above, lion-legged chairs in use at an ancient Egyptian reception. In the middle, on the 
left, ancient Egyptian lion-legged bed with mattress and head rest, and steps for ascending. 
On the right, funeral bed showing the lion with both head and tail. Below, weaving and making 


pottery. All from ancient Egyptian mural pictures 


ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LION-LEGGED CHAIRS AND BEDS 


23 


i 


3 
. 
| 


From the tomb of Iouya and Touyou, and now in the Cairo Museum. Note the round 
pulls, the relief ornament on the panels of the lower cabinet, and the cornice of the 
upper cabinet. The upper cabinet is 20 inches long; the lower one, 15 inches long 


EGYPTIAN PAINTED WOODEN CABINETS OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY B. C. 


24 


a id Sa 


Brilliantly inlaid with glazed blue tiles, and bearing the name of Amenhotep III, father of 
Akhnaton who was the father-in-law of Tutankhamen. Charming in shape and splendidly made. 
From the tomb of Iouya and Touyou, and now in the Cairo Museum. Twenty inches high 


EGYPTIAN WOODEN JEWEL CABINET OF AMENHOTEP III 


25 


0 ES Oa 0 8 0 OS 0s 0 ee | ee 0 eos, ES GS A RE uae 
= = = 


| | fi 


‘eemaenceates eR 


i" TN 


FE 
5 


RET PLES 


From an ancient Egyptian mural picture. The governor of Ethiopia 
presenting tribute to Tutankhamen. Note the archaic low back of the chair 


THE THRONE CHAIR OF TUTANKHAMEN 


26 


a 


From an ancient Greek painted gravestone, pictured 
in water-color, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


GREEK TABLE, COUCH, CHAIR AND FOOTSTOOL OF THE THIRD CENTURY B. CG. 


98 


CHAPTER I 


BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN, GREEK, ROMAN, 
AND BYZANTINE-ROMAN FURNITURE 


Of Ancient Babylonian and Assyrian, Greek and Roman 
wooden furniture, little or none has survived. Even the ancient un- 
derground after-death houses of the Etruscans have failed to give us 
treasures equal to those of Ancient Kgypt. 

In Babylonia and Assyria, the common use of brick that crumbles, 
and the lack of permanent buildings in stone, accounts in part for the 
comparatively small amount of concrete evidence we have regarding 
Babylonian and Assyrian architecture and furniture. 

We have, however, considerable Ancient Greek and Roman 
marble furniture and considerable Roman bronze furniture giving us 
original models adequate for reproduction and inspiration. The Greek 
and Roman marble furniture is mostly in museums, especially in those 
of the City of Rome. Much of the Roman bronze furniture is in the 
Naples Museum, from Pompei and Herculaneum. 

Making up in some degree for the lack of actual furniture, are 
the pictures of furniture presented in ancient bas-reliefs, paintings, 
and Babylonian-Assyrian seal cylinders. 

An Assyrian alabaster bas-relief in the British Museum, illus- 
trated on another page, shows King Ashurbanipal banqueting alone 
with his Queen. The grapes above indicate what the cups contain. 
It will be noticed that Ashurbanipal reclines at ease on a couch, while 
his Queen sits upright in an arm chair. The dining room table is high 
and small and square, with four legs that terminate below in lion paws 
resting upon a stand that is supported on short inverted pyramids. 
It will be noticed also that the lion paws face away from each other, 
unlike the lion legs already noted in Egyptian furniture. 

To me, a study of the lion furniture illustrated in this and other 


reliefs indicates imperfect adaptation from Egyptian originals. The 
29 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


tendency of a borrowed art, as is shown in the Italian silks of the 
Thirteenth Century A. D., copied from Sicilian, is to substitute 
rhythmical conventions for the more naturalistic original forms. 
Greek art did this when it took all the life out of architectural mold- 
ings that in the Egyptian originals were still alive with floral forms. 

It cannot be said that this Assyrian furniture of King Ashur- 
banipal is beautiful. There are too many broken lines not only in the 
legs of chair and couch and table, but also in the footstool, and in®the 
small table on the right carrying the King’s bow and quiver. It will 
be noticed in the illustration, that the Queen sits on a cushion and has 
a cushion beneath her feet. 

There is also in the British Museum an alabaster relief picture 
of a royal stool and footstool of the Ninth Century B. C., showing 
King Ashurnasirpal seated on a backless and armless stool-throne, 
with his feet resting on a lion-pawed footstool. The throne has a 
detachable cushion, apparently of leather, and apparently a long 
fringe pendant from the seat. Sculptured animal heads adorn the 
ends of the seat. 

A royal Persian chair is the one pictured on an Ancient Persian 
stone relief, of which there is a plaster reproduction in the Metropol- 
itan Museum of Art. King Xerxes sits high on a royal chair, which 
is supported by a huge throne of similar form. 

The most important early piece of Greek furniture that has been 
preserved is the stone throne chair of Minos in Crete, from the pal- 
ace at Knossos. This chair dates from the Fifteenth Century B. C. 
Our illustration is from a plaster reproduction in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. 

Crete is the island home of the famous Greek statesman of today, 
Venizelos. I speak of this ancient Cretan chair as Greek, although the 
Cretans were of a different race from the Greeks from the North, 
who overwhelmed and crushed Cretan civilization. But in overwhelm- 
ing it and crushing it, they were so much influenced by the art of the 
conquered race that the inheritance of Greek art from Cretan art is 
of prime importance, although it was many centuries after the decay 
of Cretan art before Greek art developed to a high point. 

Ancient Cretan art, the understanding of which is so largely due 
to the excavations and magazine articles and books of Sir Arthur 
Evans, was the leading art of the islands and adjacent shores of the 
northeastern Mediterranean from the time of the Egyptian Pyr- 

30 


GREEK, ROMAN, BYZANTINE 


amids on. ‘The art of the earlier cities of Troy that preceded Homeric 
Troy of the Twelfth Century B. C., was closely related to Cretan art. 

The mural paintings of Ancient Crete throw considerable light 
on Ancient Cretan life. Of actual furniture there are numerous bath- 
tubs and at least one important funeral chest, the last with construc- 
tion indicating an earlier form made of wood. Homer’s “Iliad” and 
“Odyssey” tell us much about the furniture of his period. 

Numerous chairs of the Age of Pericles (Fifth Century B. C.) 
and of the Age of Alexander the Great (Fourth Century B.C.) are 
pictured in marble gravestone reliefs, several of which are in the Met- 
ropolitan Museum of Art and many of which are to be seen in Athens 
as originally erected. Some of these chairs have straight round turned 
legs, the pictures apparently of actual furniture in wood or bronze, 
but the majority have the concave legs and the curved back so com- 
monly copied or adapted in the French Empire Period and by 
Duncan Phyfe. 

Much Etruscan furniture is pictured in the mural paintings of 
the underground tombs still to be seen at Corneto and elsewhere. 
This fact is important in the study of Roman furniture, because early 
Roman art was largely based on Etruscan. . 

The inheritance of Roman art from Greek art is not an alien in- 
heritance but the inheritance of daughter from mother, an inheritance 
not only from Etruscan art in which Greek influence was dominant, 
but also directly from the Greeks of Southern Italy and Sicily and 
elsewhere. After the Second Century B. C. the finest Roman fur- 
niture was largely constructed by Greek artisans or by Roman artisans 
with the Greek tradition. 

The principal distinction between Roman architecture and Greek 
architecture is in the Roman use of round arches and round vaults 
and bricks and cement, all probably derived in their ultimate origin 
from Babylonia, where round arches and vaults and domes had nat- 
urally developed in brick construction.) At this point, it is interesting 
to note that the large thin stone-liké bricks developed in the vicinity 
of the City of Rome are very different from the softer bricks com- 
monly used in Northeastern Italy in the Valley of the Po. This is 
perhaps due to the difference in the materials available, the clay of 
the Po Valley being more like the clay of Mesopotamia, and conse- 
quently the bricks of the Po Valley more like the bricks of Mesopo- 


tamia. 
31 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Many splendid and richly carved marble tables of large size 
have been preserved to us from Ancient Rome, some of them entire 
and some with top missing. Probably the Romans also used similar 
tables made of wood. 'T'wo of the most beautiful marble table stand- 
ards in existence are those now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
illustrated on another page. The carving is of incomparable excel- 
lence and has the same qualities of naturalism, guided by convention 
into perfect rhythm, that distinguish much Gothic naturalistic carving. 

We also have a wealth of Ancient Roman carved marble funeral 
chests (sarcophagi) and bathtubs. 

The Ancient Roman marble furniture in the Cleveland Museum, 
illustrated on another page, is worth a special visit to that city to see. 

The Ancient Roman couch in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
with applied carvings of bone, though incorrectly reassembled, is one 
of the most important pieces of Ancient Roman furniture in existence. 
I have illustrated it both in black and white and in color to give 
opportunity for study of the details. 

One of the most important Roman marble reliefs, illustrating not 
only Roman furniture but also a small Roman house, is the one in the 
British Museum picturing the visit of the god Dionysius to a play- 
wright. It is illustrated on another page of this volume. It shows how 
the Ancient Greeks and Romans “went to bed” when they went to 
dinner, reclining on couches instead of sitting up on chairs. Without 
going into the complexities of the Roman triclinium (dining room) 
with its three couches each holding three guests, I refer to the marble 
picture just mentioned, as showing the use of a low round dining 
table with lion legs, similar to the bronze table in the Naples Museum, 
illustrated from the reproduction in the Field Museum of Natural 
History. 

The common use of dining room couches, at least among the 
upper classes, accounts for the absence of dining room chairs. 

Ancient Roman life did not call for the quantity or variety of 
furniture now common in Kurope and America. The larger furniture 
for interior garden courts (peristyles) and monumental halls was 
usually made of marble or bronze, sometimes perhaps in wood, or in 
wood with bronze mounts. Much of the smaller furniture for private 
residences was made of bronze or of wood and bronze, like the furni- 
ture in the Naples Museum so much of which is illustrated. Probably 
the wooden furniture, which at Pompeii crumbled and disappeared 

32 


GREEK, ROMAN, BYZANTINE 


when exposed to light and air, after being buried for eighteen hundred 
years beneath cinders and ashes, was of construction similar to the 
bronze furniture but heavier in outline, as the material demands. 

I cannot sufficiently emphasize the importance of the reproduc- 
tions of Ancient Roman furniture on exhibition in the Field Museum 
of Natural History. They are of course in every way secondary as 
evidence to the originals in the Naples Museum, but they do give an 
infinitely clearer idea of what Ancient Roman furniture was than do 
any pictures. Not that I underestimate the value of pictures in con- 
veying information. Indeed, the publication of this volume shows 
the contrary. But while pictures supplemented by captions and text 
are vastly more helpful than text alone to stimulate interest and un- 
derstanding, one original object is worth a thousand pictures. The 
purpose of this book is not to take the place of the actual objects but 
to stir students to the necessity of acquaintance with the actual objects 
in the famous Art Museums of the world. 


BYZANTINE FURNITURE 

Most of what we know about Byzantine furniture is pictured in 
Byzantine mosaics, carved ivories and manuscripts. The most 
important chair that survives is the one at the Ravenna Cathedral, 
richly carved in ivory. The panels depict scenes from the lives of 
Jesus and Joseph, and the chair is said to be that of Maximian, Arch- 
bishop of Ravenna in the Sixth Century A. D. 

Another chair dating from the Sixth Century is that in the 
Vatican, called the Chair of St. Peter. 

Interesting mosaic pictures of Byzantine throne-chairs with large 
soft cushions and richly inlaid, are those upon which Christ and the 
Virgin are seated in the Church of San Apollinare Nuovo, in Ravenna. 

A bronze chair of about the same date is that in the Bibliothéque 
Nationale, Paris, called the Chair of King Dagobert. The back and 
arms are additions made in the Twelfth Century by Suger, Abbot of 
St. Denis. Note the lion-headed legs. 


The throne of Minos in the palace at Knossos, Crete, the island home of 
Venizelos. From a_plaster cast in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


CRETAN CHAIR OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY B.C: 


34 


From ancient bas-reliefs in the British Museum. There is a 
cast of the lower one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN FURNITURE OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY B. C. 


35 


ROU DU 


d 


SAS; ee = ‘ee 
Miser 


ae 


From a Greek vase of the Fifth Century B. C., in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, show- 
ing Thetes and Vulcan. Note the tapestry pillows, and the curved rests behind them 


PICTURE OF ANCIENT GREEK SOFA AND FOOTSTOOLS 


36 


— ss =. 


SHUNOLSHAVYSD WICUVN MHAUOD LNHIONV NO SYUIVHO 


WOLF ST 9UOJSAAVAT a[PpIeU sy, “ssa_ pouany “YS YBLM Too}s V UMOYS ST 4YSI ay UG ‘syorq 
ay} OsTe aJON ‘sareyo ayAyq Uvounql JO saojsoouv 4jo] IY} UO sareyo OM} ay} UT SIaY}O YoRe 


Worf ABME GUTARIUOD SHI[ Ival pur JUOIJ dy} VION “JAW FO uMosny ueppodonery oy uy 


From Cyprus. Note the volutes at the top of the leg, and above the band of lions pursuing stags 
SMALL ANCIENT GREEK BRONZE TABLE IN THE METROPOLITAN-MUSEUM OF ART 


38 


4 


In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the left, a Roman 
On the right, a small, Late Greek lampstand 


chair leg. 


ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN BRONZE FURNITURE 


39 


, “UIY "apisaq. aq pad af OTT ‘put fo 0 
Sunok syj, ‘peanqord Ajaveypo st ssnoy ey} JO WON. 
-ySyerjs afduuis oy, ‘seaano olssv[Q yep ul suey a 


yyeousq Sursuevy st yyod v sAIMOY JO SUOOYSaF BY} PUB Spaq 94} pUTYaq Arodvap ayy, *F 

pursip pue aeapo ur are ‘{dno0 0} Jnoqe sf Jsan3 papreaq sy} YY Yonoo ayy Jo Say pouiny 
ay} pue mopid tWIM paxvoqpeay peaano oy} yng ‘AypUIIP nq UMOYS ore YOIYM Jo sBoy Teyour 
peuin} ey} Yonos pamoyid pue passedyyvu ev uo souTpood yystimAeyd [nzyynod vy, *1oUUTp 
yea 0} ,,paq OF JUAM,, SUBTMOY PUL SYIIH MOY SMOYS duds BYT, 32] 2X} Je JSeyO MOT “TRUS 
ay} jo doy uo syseu peorsyeoy} 94} BION “jWsUMde[d v Jo asnoy sy} OF snishuolq JO PISTA 


ae 


Door of the Erechteum, Athens, one of the 
sources of ornament for the Scottish Rite Temple’ 


Marble chair in the Theatre of Dionysius, Athens 


Modern American wooden chair in the Scottish Rite 
Temple, inspired by ancient marble chair on the left 


MODERN AMERICAN FURNITURE INSPIRED BY ANCIENT GREECE 


41 


=F 


AOVd ALISOddO NO UOTOO NI GAaLVULSATIL HONOD NVWOU LNAIONV 


yeas B SB padloysoa APSUOL AY 


SP 


LUV dO WOASAW NVLITODOUL 


WHHL NI HONOD NVWOU LNAIONV 


urs1of JuOdaIg “f JO ILD ‘au0q ur JuauIeUO perlvo pue ‘Av[Ur Sseps paatopoo YALA, 


Goddess Cyeble enthroned on car. Ancient Roman bronze of 
the Second Century A. D. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


ANCIENT ROMAN CHAIR AND FOOTSTOOL 


44. 


Marble garden furniture from Boscoreale, near Pompeii 


ANCIENT ROMAN TABLES IN THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM 


45 


Modern table standard from Pompeii 


Modern American marble and bronze table, in the atrium of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, Washington, D. Cc. 


ANCIENT ROMAN AND MODERN AMERICAN FURNITURE 


46 


In the Temple of the Scottish Rite, Washington, D. C., John Russell Pope, architect 


MODERN AMERICAN FURNITURE INSPIRED BY ANCIENT ROME 


AT 


In the Naples Museum. Prototypes of the lighting fixtures 
in the Temple of the Scottish Rite, Washington, D. Cc: 


ANCIENT ROMAN BRONZE CANDELABRA 


48 


From the Augustan Age. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Note 
the exquisite carving, and the winged heads growing out of lion legs 


ANCIENT ROMAN TABLE STANDARDS 


49 


1¢ > 


‘dV AYOINGO LSU FHL JO AHOLINUNA ATAUVN NVWOU 


JV JO twnasnyy ueppodoajayy oy} UL s}svo aaqyse[d worg ‘wmaqefapues Jo seq QySt 
eq} UD ‘“plepurys a[qQez uvlodwog ‘sIppI ‘sniskuowy Jo ysartd Fo areyo 4joyT ey) uC 


ANCIENT ROMAN YZE AND MARBLE 


The table is made of five pieces, top, three legs, brace, all cast. It is 21 inches high, with top 25% inches in 
diameter, It is lower than our tables because the Romans reclined at dinner on couches, instead of sitting in chairs 


: ANCIENT ROMAN BRONZE DINING ROOM TABLE FROM BOSCOREALE, IN THE 
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, CHICAGO 


53 


From a reproduction in the Field Museum of Natural History. The frame is of bronze, and 
the top slides up and down. ‘The original top inside the bronze frame was probably of wood 
and has been so restored. Note the four legs with horse’s hoof below and horse’s head above, 
and compare with the animal legs of ancient Kgyptian furniture 


ANCIENT ROMAN TABLE IN THE NAPLES MUSEUM 


54 


a i 


BSS SS SS Re ees Oa a han AS aa Daa sh aia rs ae Sa Nee Se RAS 


Irom reproductions in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The Romans at 
dinner reclined on couches, each couch holding three. The wooden part of Pompeian furniture 
having uniformly crumbled when exposed to the air after being buried for 1,800 years, it has 
not always been easy to reassemble the bronze parts correctly 


ANCIENT ROMAN STOOL AND COUCHES IN THE NAPLES MUSEUM 


55 


WOASAW SHIAVN AHL NI SATAVL GNV GNVIS AZNOUD NVWOU LNAIONV 


‘doy apqueut aaenbs ‘yeurs v 
pey aou0 purys oy} A[quqorg ‘pp1oMm ayy Fo eqoys ay} uodn Surpuvys pue ‘sowsepF{ peptvaq v 
Zunsoddns Aroyora St pueys oy} ul sInsy ure syy, ‘spunoy njeoeis pue sepueys Surads yyst1 
ayy UO Ifqe} ey} FO SB] ey} Woz “sefMoIdPY JO pvoy papasvaq oyysreyore UB YM puUe “Jaryat 
ut sayjourped pue ‘sSura ‘s[[oros YyIM: poyusuIeuO ATa}eLOge[a ST SBaz_ WOT, 4} FO yaed aoddn 
ay, ‘S8e_ uol] pezidapusys uo ys oym saxutyds Aq patdivd sta}s [eIOY 214} Aq peytoddns 
St 1JaT ey} UO V{qQe} eT, ‘poo UL payNoexe [Jem eq JOU P[NOD suUsIsap Yons ynq “TNFQMVG 
Ajaystnbxa st oanyruamy styy, “AroystpT [eInyeN Jo uMasnJ ppt ey} Ul suoronpoidat Wor yy 


ro 


~~ 


WOYUSOW SHWIdVN AHL NI YIVHO GNV AIAVL AZNOUD NVNOU LNAIONV 


UONV10}Sed ULIpOU ST pooOM oyYJ, “WUsTOUR 
aie suonsod azuoiq oy} ATUO 4YSII 94} UO Ireyo 94} JQ ‘doy oy} Jo oUIvAJZ OY} ST Sv “AOATIS . 
sdeysed ‘feyoul YIM prepul sie saavatT snyyUKoe oy} MOTEq SSaT o4T, “Hqqei ev Surproy «Ayes 
[azyMod wv sasti Soy UOT] paziiopusTs Yora FO ynQ “uMOp pue dn saps doz-a[qaeu pouIesy 
-azu0lq o4y, ‘“Osvoryg ut ALO}STET [eINZeEN Jo wWmeasnwW ppl ey}. Ul suoronpoadaa wo.r,y 


ol Se as 


ee ey ee 


q 
j 
3 


on and trimmed with bronze. The lower row of bronze 
Cupids. The lid fastens at the ends. 


nd in animal heads fancifully prolonged into a proboscis 
design on the wooden restoration is said to have been 


The chest was of wood sheathed with ir 
heads shows an ivy-covered nymph between two 


The bronze legs of the folding stool e 
that rests on the floor. The carved 
copied from the original ivory frame 


ANCIENT ROMAN CHEST AND X FOLDING STOOL IN THE NAPLES MUSEUM 


58 


* 


fe owes Fo 8 t ot8 


narthex (vestibule) of the famous cathedral of Santa 


Model, by Dwight Franklin, of the 
Century A. D. by the Roman Emperor, Justinian 


Sophia erected in Constantinople in the Sixth 


BYZANTINE AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


59 


Os. 


Ravenna. 
nd inlaid 


ion, 


Nuovo, 
and made comfortable 
a 


iInare 
also with cush 


els and ivory, 
of Christ, 


jew 
but with back posts carved 


church of San Apoll 


chair 


in inlaid with 
Below, 


irg 


the Sixth Century 


f the V 
soft cushion. 


rom mosaics in 
cha 
ur ge, 


Abov 


b 


lr oO 


e, 
le 


a 


Ne 


with jewels and ivory, 


F 


ENT PICTURES O 


F BYZANTINE CHAIRS 


ANCI 


60 


19 


AYOAL GHAUVO NI YIVHOD ANIINVZAG 


vipasyyeD euUsARY 9Yy} UT (UeIUNSNE Jo1adUIG 2Yy} Jo aUIT] oY} UT RUUOAR o doysiqyoie) ueorxepy JO areyo a 
[erpoyy YU eyy ul Tur J H oq} UW oF Iq rar : rem L 


aes 


» 
2%) 


Es ey 
Me 


Frankish Byzantine, gilt bronze chair in the Bibliothéque 
Nationale. Commonly called the Chair of King Dagobert 


Chair of St. Peter, in the apse of the Vatican Basilica Table with embroidered table-cloth, pictured in a mosaic” 
at the Sixth Century church of San Apollinare in Classe, ~ 
Ravenna 


BYZANTINE CHAIRS, BENCH AND TABLE 


62 


£9 


SLdIYOSANVW ENAXIONV NI CHUN LOlMRd SUIVHO ANLINVZAG 


qdiiosnuvut Ainjusg YUIN vB Wodgy 


ydttosnuvia Aunque YUIN B WoL 


qdriosnueu Ammyueg YVYsSry ue wo. yy 


CHAPTER Ill 


iy 


i 
, 


nae CAN 


From an illuminated manuscript of the period. Note the sideboard, the pillowed 
sofas on which the guests sit and the frame construction of the three tables 


GOTHIC DINING ROOM TABLES OF THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 


66 


CHAPTER III 
GOTHIC FURNITURE 
FRENCH, FRENCH-FLEMISH, ENGLISH, SPANISH 


Gothic is the style dominant in Western Europe in the Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Its influence is also marked in 
Italy in the Fourteenth Century. The style is called Gothic, not 
because the Goths had anything to do with it, but because of the con- 
tempt that the Italians of the Renaissance, felt for a style that was 
medieval and non-Roman. They used the term Gothic as a synonym 
of barbarous. 

Gothic, however, is by no means a barbarous style. On the 
contrary, it is one of the most splendid styles the world has ever 
known. It is also one of the most distinctive, perhaps the most dis- 
tinctive of all styles, in spirit and in execution. 

Just as the soul of Classic is balance and symmetry, so the soul 
of Gothic is verticality and variety. Gothic buildings do not stick 
fast to the ground. Unlike Classic buildings, they seem to soar up- 
ward to the sky, accentuating height at the expense of breadth. 

Gothic is primarily a French style. It is just as radically and 
completely a French style as were the later styles of Louis XIV, 
Louis XV and Louis XVI. In the Gothic centuries, the name for 
Gothic was “Opus Francigenum,” French work. The Gothic of 
Hngland, Germany, Spain and Italy trails that of France. 

Already in Romanesque, the French had been leaders. The 
Romanesque of England, Sicily and Southern Italy is Norman 
French. The finest sculpture of the Romanesque Eleventh and 
Twelfth Centuries is French. 

While Gothic is so largely Romantic, it has a Classic foundation. 
Gothic can be understood only by studying its developments out of 
Romanesque, which is a development from Barbaric Roman under 
Byzantine and Saracenic inspiration. 

67 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


One result of the Crusades was the regeneration of Western 
Europe. When the Crusades began, at the end of the Eleventh 
Century, the civilization of France, England, Germany and Italy 
was vastly inferior to the civilization of the Byzantine Empire and 
also to the civilization of the Mohammedan countries, Persia, Syria, 
Egypt, Northern Africa and Spain. In the Near East, the Cru- 
saders learned to appreciate higher standards of art, and returned 
home thrilled with admiration for Byzantine and Saracenic. 

Gothic, then, is a French style developed from Romanesque by 
the Oriental spirit reborn in the West and made passionately Chris- 
tian. But the foundation of Gothic is Classic, and, if it had not been 
for the Roman inheritance, Gothic as a style could never have 
developed. 

In Gothic, all lines lead upward. This is especially true in the 
Gothic of the Fourteenth Century. ‘The Gothic of the Thirteenth 
Century and the late Twelfth still retained much Romanesque. 'The 
Gothie of the Fifteenth Century was already well on the way toward 
Renaissance. 

As far as Gothic furniture is concerned, the Fifteenth Century 
is the important century. Almost all of the ancient Gothic wooden 
furniture that remains to us was made in the Fifteenth Century, or 
early Sixteenth. 

The Thirteenth Century had been the great Cathedral Century, 
the great Architectural Century, and a great Stained-Glass Century. 

During the Fourteenth Century, stained glass developed mar- 
velously, and the art of weaving large and splendid wall tapestries, 
with all the technique that distinguishes Gothic and later Kuropean 
tapestries from Egyptian, Coptic, Saracenic, Chinese and other prim- 
itive tapestries was developed. But nearly all of the important 
Gothic tapestries that have survived are from the Fifteenth Century. 

The finest Gothic furniture is French or French-Flemish. When 
I use the term French-Flemish, I use it only to indicate a distinction 
that is not important until the end of the Fifteenth Century. French- 
Flemish Gothic is just as much French Gothic as is the Gothic of 
Paris, and more so than the Gothic of Southern France. Not until 
near the end of the Fifteenth Century, when the Netherlands came 
by marriage into the possession of the Hapsburgs, did Flemish, under 
German, Spanish and Italian influences, begin to separate itself 
definitely from French. 

68 


GOTHIC 


French Gothic furniture of the Fifteenth and early Sixteenth 
Centuries is largely case furniture. That is to say, the chairs and 
benches and thrones are largely chests used.as seats, often with high 
and canopied backs. 

The ornament of Gothic furniture is derived from the ornament 
of Gothic architecture. The panels, carved or carved-and-pierced in 
low relief, are copied from the tracery-work of Cathedral stained- 
glass windows. ‘The linen-fold which we find in the cathedrals, both 
in stone and wood and which was at the same time cheap to produce 
and beautiful, is constantly present on Gothic furniture. 

Gothic columns and pilasters, finials and pendants were bor- 
rowed by Gothic furniture from church architecture. 

Gothic moldings are radically different from Classic moldings. 
Classic moldings are full and round. Gothic moldings are thin and 
sharp, and cast shadows making them look even thinner and sharper 
than they really are. 

Gothic furniture of the late Fifteenth Century already shows the 
influence of the approaching Renaissance. Horizontal lines and 
moldings which were abhorred by the Gothic of the Fourteenth 
Century are introduced with considerable freedom. 

Gothic of the Fifteenth Century is much more of a decorative 
style than was the Gothic of the Thirteenth Century. Compared with 
the earlier Gothic, it is almost Rococo. Ornament, in its effort to 
achieve naturalistic beauty, sometimes loses dignity. Yet this was the 
century of the great painters, the Van Dycks, Roger van der Weyden 
and Hans Memling, and while we may admire the architectural per- 
fections of the earlier Gothic centuries, we cannot help admitting that, 
decoratively and as far as furniture and tapestries were concerned, 
the great Gothic century was the Fifteenth Century. 

Most Gothic furniture is made of oak, with metal mounts of iron 
superbly wrought. Ancient Gothic hinges and locks are far superior 
to any that can be copied or originated today, except perhaps by some 
of the Spanish smiths with traditions inherited from centuries of 
Spanish superiority in ironwork. 

Gothic illuminated manuscripts are of the greatest help in study- 
ing the furniture forms of all the Gothic centuries, but especially of 
the Fifteenth. Here we see interiors of all kinds installed with furni- 
ture that is both useful and beautiful. Jere we have an opportunity 
to see just how Gothic furniture was used in homes. 

69 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Our illustrations from Fifteenth Century Gothic manuscripts 
show a wealth of Gothic furniture. They also show it in use. Evi- 
dently chairs were few and benches were many.’ Even at table, we 
see the guests on long high-backed seats with cushions to make them 
comfortable. The light but solid frame construction of the long 
slender tables is noteworthy. The canopied beds, as well as many 
of the benches with backs and arms, seem to have been more heavily 
framed and less board-like than most of the Gothic furniture that 
has come down to us from the Late Fifteenth Century and Early 
Sixteenth. The desk upon which Jean Mielot writes is of interesting 
construction, and the ink bottles are placed conveniently. An impos- 
ing throne-chair is the one shown in the picture of a Gothic school 
room. 

What these throne-chairs were to the other rooms, the high- 
backed sideboard, or dresser, seems to have been to the dining room. 
On it were displayed row upon row of the finest dishes, mostly in silver 
or other metal gilded to look like gold. 

The actual service at dinner was simple. The plates were flat 
and square and small. Wine cups were large and shaped like flat 
bowls. Chickens and meat were served on a large round platter. 

The detail of the linen table-cloths, sometimes plain but some- 
times a damask and fringed, is interesting. Interesting also are the 
long straight Gothic plaits in which hang both table-cloths and bed- 
spreads. 

One of our illustrations shows a crib, with a baby in it, being 
rocked by a lady who pulls a string attached to one of the corner 
posts. 


an Or rR or rr ter No RAM RAO rete Go Lott 


From an illuminated manuscript of the middle of the Fifteenth Century. Above, the teacher 
elaborately gowned sits on a canopied bench, with rich pomegranate-figured velvet behind her. 
Her ink bottle stands on the desk, ready for the quill pen with which she is writing. The 
scholars sit on backless benches, but two of them have foot pillows. ‘The window is paned 
with glass, and rather elaborately leaded at the top. Below, linen table-cloths falling in Gothic 
plaits, and with embroidered border, cover tables with straight legs, tied»together shoes and 
long stretchers. The guests sit on benches with backs, and having no forks use knives and 


fingers. The sideboard is haughty with rich plates, and Discord offers the apple that caused 
the elopement of Helen of Troy 


GOTHIC SCHOOL ROOM AND DINING ROOM FURNITURE 


71 


i, 


ACI NY 
SACKEMGRG 


From an illuminated manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. Above, Jean Mielot writing the 
manuscript for Duke Philip the Good, who watches from the right. Note the construction of 
the writing desk, and of the high-backed bench with lion finials. Note also the folding stool. 
Below, Jason making love to Medea. Here we have an opportunity to study not only sofa 
and bench, and high-backed chair with pillow, and bed with canopy and draperies and Gothic, 
pleated spread and pillow and bolster, but also the door and doorway, the grilled window 
with shutters, the floor and the ceiling 


GOTHIC BED ROOM FURNITURE AND. WRITING DESK 


72 


From the Story of Helayne, an illuminated manuscript made in the middle of the Fifteenth 
Century for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Above, we see the author presenting the 
book to Duke Philip. The furniture consists of a long carved sofa, with pillow, and a side- 
board with high back. In the room below, twins have just been born. The mother reposed 
in the carved bed whose spread lies in Gothic folds. The canopy drapery is rolled up in the 
way then usual. Note also the chimneypiece, the high-backed chair, and especially the cradle 


GOTHIC FURNITURE AND INTERIORS 


73 


4 


In the Dreicer Collection 


——= 
Be 


Chest front 


FRENCH GOTHIC FURNITURE IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


TA 


- “4 
Sens scidimaes nesesuetomcestaceesmnasteiietatatteeds itn 


y ty, oo 


i 


AK 


a Te 


| 


= gt %, 
"fea m*, 


0 | 


| 
| 


CUPBOARD IN CARVED O 


Sagpery: 


FRENCH GOTHIC 


Wiring 
- 


eieaneees 


With tracery work and linen-fold panels. In the 
Hoentschel Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art 


FRENCH-FLEMISH GOTHIC CANOPIED CHAIR i 


76 


French-Flemish cupboard with tracery and 
linen-fold panels and attractive iron hardware 


GOTHIC CUPBOARD AND CREDENCE 


French-Flemish choir stalls in the Hoentschel Collection 


GOTHIC CHOIR STALLS IN THE’ METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


78 


~~ Te 


“ 


Front and back views of an English Gothic oak table 


French Gothic wood carvings from Abbeville. Assembled as an armorer’s shop in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


FRENCH AND ENGLISH GOTHIC WOODWORK AND FURNITURE 


79 


English cupboard 


French throne chair 


French cupboard 


FRENCH AND ENGLISH GOTHIC FURNITURE 


80 


2 


GOTHIC TRACERY AND LINEN-FOLD ORNAMENT 


81 


ae: OMe 


ETAILS OF GOTHIC LINEN-FOLD ORNAMENT 


D 


82 


Fourteenth Century Gothic small carved chest, picturing in the second 
panel from the left the story of Aristotle caught by Alexander in the act 
of playing the fool for Camaspe. The hardware of the chest is of ex- 
traordinary beauty and excellence. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


Early Renaissance cupboard from 
the Mrs. Chauncey Blair Collection 


Gothie throne from Lorraine 


FRENCH GOTHIC CONTRASTED WITH FRENCH RENAISSANCE 


83 


French choir stalls in the Hoentschel Collection 


Miniature model of Penshurst Hall by Dwight Franklin. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


FRENCH GOTHIC CONTRASTED WITH ENGLISH GOTHIC 
84 


; ge = sa i oe " q , ey SS co a ni 
|| SS eg ey 


HIC CUPBOARD 


’ 


NGLISH GO’ 


i 


85 


Paes ee a ee ee ee ee ae 


_—. 


¢ 


F als 


Reconstructed table 


Dole cupboard with pierced tracery 


ENGLISH GOTHIC CUPBOARD AND TABLE 


86 5 


Exhibition of the Spanish Society of the Friends of Art, Madrid, 1917 


SPANISH GOTHIC CHESTS 


87 


An extraordinary example of the skill of Spanish workers in iron. 
Upholstered in-red velvet. From the collection of Don Juan Lafora 


pee Sa 


VV AV AVANT AU SSIS 


wer 
ee 


Elaborately carved with window tracery in the manner of French Gothic. Iron lock and 
other hardware of unusual excellence. From the collection of the Marquesa de Alcubierre 


SPANISH GOTHIC CHESTS 


88 


(2) 


(3) 


(1) and (3) designed by Cram, Goodhue and 
Ferguson; (2) and (4), by Charles R. Lamb 


MODERN AMERICAN GOTHIC CHURCH FURNITURE 


89 


— eee 


Two panels from one of a pair of Kighteenth Century incised lacquer screens 


ANCIENT CHINESE SCREEN IN THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM 


=) 
wo 


CHAPTER IV 
ORIENTAL FURNITURE 
PERSIAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE 


Chinese is the only Oriental furniture from which we have much 
to learn. The other Asiatic nations east of Persia either sit on the 
floor like the Japanese or follow the Chinese, or show successive waves 
of Babylonian, Greek, Sassanid, and Persian influence. I am sorry 
not to have been able to secure good illustrations of early Indian 
furniture, much of which is pictured in the decorative and architectur- 
al sculpture, and some of which looks not unlike the furniture in 
Assyrian bas-reliefs. I also regret not having been able to show more 
Mohammedan furniture, especially the case pieces rich with ivory and 
other inlay. But as little or none of his furniture seems to have had 
much influence on European and American furniture except through 
Spanish and Portuguese, perhaps the omission is pardonable. None 
of the Asiatic nations ever developed the general use of chairs and 
tables and two-story cabinets to the extent now common in Europe 
and America. Highly developed furniture seems never to have been 
used in any country except in connection with highly developed 
architecture. 

Sitting or squatting on the floor and on divans is a favorite 
Persian habit. In spite of the architectural inheritance of Persia from 
Babylonia and Assyria and Egypt, Persia is an Oriental rather than 
an Occidental country. 

Our illustrations show Persians squatting on rugs and mattresses 
and divans, and leaning on large soft cushions, with food served on 
trays or on low stands. Under such conditions of life, little furniture 
is necessary or desirable except chests and small cabinets. Furniture 
such as we use becomes necessary only when people stop sitting on 
the floor and begin to sit from sixteen to twenty inches above the 
floor. Some of our Japanese illustrations illustrate the “Squat” Age. 

93 


- Hsi, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and illustrated in this 


— 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


One of our Egyptian illustrations shows the “Squat” Age side by side 
with the later Age. 
Chinese furniture, like Chinese painting and Chinese porcelain 


and Chinese silks, excels. The construction is admirable and the 


ornament appropriate. ‘The forms, in which straight lines predomi- 
nate are sensible and comfortable. ven the forms obviously in- 
fluenced from Europe have gained by the application of Chinese 
taste. Even modern Chinese furniture, made for either Kuropean or 
Chinese use in China, has many of the excellencies of the Chinese 
furniture that went before. 

A distinctive characteristic are the numerous fret forms in the 
carved ornament, which suggest the origin of Chinese Chippendale. 
The metalwork on cabinets is often superb; locks and hinges are made 
with consummate skill. 

About Chinese lacquer screens there can, of course, be only one 
opinion. They are brilliant works of art. A screen like that of Kang 


volume, commands universal admiration. It dates from 1690 and is the 
work of Fong Long Kon of Fatshan. It shows the Kmperor Kang 
Hsi seated in the central partition of the Summer Palace, entertained 
by dancing girls. The perspective and point of view are fascinating, 
and illustrate what Gothic tapestries also illustrate, that modern 
photographic and geometrical perspective is not necessary for the 
production of beautiful pictures. No wonder that French and English 
artists and artisans of the Eighteenth Century became enamoured of 
Chinese lacquer work, and have been imitating it ever since. 

An Eighteenth Century Englishman, whose pictures of Chinese 
furniture in his “Designs for Chinese Buildings” (London 1757) are 
interesting, is the architect Sir William Chambers who at the age of 
sixteen visited Canton where he made the drawings afterwards pub- 
lished in his book. The Chinese pagoda that he erected at Kew still 
survives. 

Our illustrations show splendid examples of modern Chinese 
lacquered furniture made in New York by a European long resident 
in China. 


ee ee ee ee eS ee ee eS ee ne ee 


96 


SASNOH ASANIHO AO SHUN LOId 


purysuy ur sefinqzue om} SurBury aayye Qaoy yo umasnyy uvyyodorjayy ayy Ur 
MON ‘ISE{ Suey JO usar oy} UL yoyAvIM YsTPSuy sy} IOF pejured saded qTea 
asouty) plo ue UO JOTOO UT payeaysnyTE suoraed aimseayd pur sesnoy aseuryy 


96 


LUV JO WOUSAW NVIITOCOULANW AHL NI Nawuos UANOOWI ASHNIHD LNAIONV 


a8ed aytsoddo vag “suvioisnul pue sivouep sey Aq pauye}sozua “ouody} SITY UO pozeos Uses 
st Isp] Suey sossdwupy oy} PANOD [eA}UVD oY} UT “UO SuoT Suog Aq O69T Hoge spew 


The Emperor Kang Hsi and his courtiers entertained by fair musicians and dancers 


DETAIL OF ANCIENT CHINESE LACQUER SCREEN SHOWN ON PRECEDING PAGE 


97 


rat 
aN 


At aR « 


Ken De 


Saale 


YIGAL “aie 


From the back of the Kang Hs 


SHOWING THE 


ORIN 


Ld 


TEXTURE 


OF 


i screen illustrated on the two preceding pages 


ANCIENT CHINESE LACQUER 


98 


66 
HS AVGAYHAH NI CHNLINYNA ASHANIHO LNAIONV 


wool Sururp yuowjiede yioX MAN w UT soTqe} [Tus pue ‘ureYyo ‘aqorp1eM paaieD 


| ter an grey SMELT ee OT 


ms 


Carved chair and small table showing European influence 


ANCIENT CHINESE FURNITURE IN NEW YORK 


100 


Carved cabinet and chairs with characteristic Chinese hardware and upholstery 


ANCIENT CHINESE FURNITURE IN NEW YORK 


| 101 


* 


In the New York apartment of the French Consul General, Gaston Liebert, who 
was stationed for many years in China. View from living room into dining room 


ANCIENT CHINESE FURNITURE IN NEW YORK 


102 


ol 
* 


« 


, 
5 


Cae 


o 


Dining room of the apartment illustrated on the opposite page. The table shows 
what happens to a European model when a Chinaman interprets it in Chinese 


ANCIENT CHINESE FURNITURE IN NEW YORK 


103 


i a es Ce wi Dee 


ee ae 


In the New York studio of the artists, Bolton and Francis Jones 
ANCIENT CHINESE CARVED CABINET 


104, 


Black and ivory bed, with decorations incised as in Coromandel lacquer 


MODERN AMERICAN CHINESE LACQUERED FURNITURE 


105 


4 


Black and ivory bed, with decorations incised in the style of Coromandel lacquer 


Furniture in yellow, with tops in Chinese red. Floral decorations in 


gold and polychrome. Lamps in red lacquer, with black sateen shades 


MODERN AMERICAN CHINESE LACQUERED FURNITURE 


106 


The home of Soichiro Asano in Tokio. Above, front view of the exterior.. Below, the 
entrance hall. The paintings are by Kobori 'Tomone. Note the absence of furniture 


OUTSIDE AND INSIDE A MODERN JAPANESE RESIDENCE 


107 


The show end of the room, with alcoves for the display of art objects and curios. 
In the residence of Soichiro Asano, president of the Pacific Steamship Company 


MODERN JAPANESE RECEPTION ROOM 


108 


a ee ae ee 


oD a a ee ee ae ee 


A group of lacquered cabinets as 
used in luxurious Japanese homes 


Fifteenth Century cabinet, with gold and silver raised lacquer, and gilt and engraved brass 
hardware. Like most Japanese furniture it is of miniature size, being only fifteen inches high. 
Unlike the Chinese the Japanese sit on the floor and use knee-high furniture and little of that 


JAPANESE FURNITURE AND INTERIOR 


109 


Gormngenen suena yy 


HSANVdVE HLIM GALSVULNOO ASHNIHO dO WUNLSOd ONILLIS 


Op 9M S¥ ‘sayousq PUB ‘s[OO}s ‘sareYyO UO PIS VSoUTYD IY, “100 
ey} uo yenbs ‘ATpet9uas saydoad aanrutad ay} oyI] ‘osourde sr ie 
* 


AtoystpT TeImnyeN Jo wmesnyy uvowowy yy « 
'H T d I AdoystpT [eanye oO Whasnyy Uroleuy 2) 
UI UloJULT asouTyQ ve Worz Jourd poqjureg yom ye 1adsayyooq asouvder v jo ydeasojoyg ul oe seer eB meas Jaued Beer 


Tia 


Bie: 
He 


IIL 


SUOIYHLNI GNV FZHOLINYNA NVISUdd 


aouasqe aieyy Aq snonotdsuoy aae sareyD ‘oanjztudnj 9]}}T] ST 2494} ‘aaay Os ‘stol1ajut asoueder 
UL SY ‘SalInzUsg YJUIE}XIG pu YQUE2}JIY ‘YJUee}INOY Vy} Jo sydiosnueul uvIsIag Woy 


Above, interior from a Sixteenth Century manuscript. 
Below, a Persian tile of the Early Seventeenth Century 


PERSIAN TILES, LACQUER WORK AND TEXTILES RICH WITH COLOR 


112 


e 
i 
F 
f 
ft 
' 
i 


R20 SEE AERTS 


>. - 
in 
ee are 


7 


* 


CHAPTER V 


LUV AO WAASOAW NV LITOdOULTIN AHL NI CSaHO WONVSSIVNUY NVYTIVIT ANILNAHO TA 


Jelet MOT OSsad ur st]-op-saney gyrA famoayodtod ur pojured pue uoar ur punog 


CHAPTER V 
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE 


During the past decade an almost incredible quantity of fine 
Italian Renaissance furniture has emigrated from Italy to America. 
At sales like the Davanzati, the Bardini, the Volpi, Americans have 
had an opportunity not only to study but also to purchase splendid 
examples of the work of Italian furniture makers of the Fifteenth 
and Sixteenth Centuries. At the recent “Loan Exhibition of the 
Arts of the Italian Renaissance” in the Metropolitan Museum of 
Art, it was possible to see some of these treasures that have been 
acquired by American collectors. 

Personally, I prefer the furniture of the Italian Renaissance to 
that of any other period. It delights me that this preference is fre- 
quently felt and expressed in the United States, and that there is 
here more love of the Classic and less wandering after strange gods 
than in any other country in the world. 

The sympathy between Americans and Italians is great, not only 
on account of the number of Italians who become Americanized and 
settle in America, but also and especially on account of those who 
become Americanized but return to Italy. This renders especially 
warm the welcome that Americans find in Italy, whether visiting in 
the large cities or the tiny hamlets. It gave me a positive thrill, a 
year ago in Pesto, where wonderful temples still preserve the memory 
of the Greeks who lived there in the Sixth Century B. C., to find that 
the Italian foreman of the local electric light plant had learned his 
trade in Michigan. 

Much of the success of Mussolini in his efforts to regenerate Italy, 
and inspire Italians to the splendid activities and great deeds of other 
days, I attribute to the enthusiastic support of immigrants repatriated 
from America. 

115 


—_ 


# 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


But while Italy can perhaps learn more from us than from any 
other country, I know that we must for many years continue to go to 
school to Italian painting, architecture and furniture. Italian houses, 
churches and museums fascinate us, and justly. 

In the Sixteenth Century, Renaissance was the dominant art of 
the world, but in Italy had already been the dominant art in the 
Fifteenth Century. In other words, the Italian Renaissance covers 
two centuries, while the Renaissance in France, Flanders, England 
and Spain covers only one century, the Sixteenth. 

In the Fifteenth Century, the capital city of Italian Renaissance 
art was Florence; in the Sixteenth Century, Rome. So that, when 
I speak of the Florentine Renaissance, I mean the Italian Renaissance 
of the Fifteenth Century; and when I speak of the Roman Renais- 
sance, I mean the Italian Renaissance of the Sixteenth Century. 

The perfections of the art of the Florentine Renaissance, as 
accomplished not only in Florence but also in the many other cities 
of northern and central Italy, was such as to give the period a dis- 
tinction second to none. This applies not only to painting and sculp- 
ture but also to architecture and furniture. 

The Florentine Renaissance is radically different in character 
and infinitely more spiritual than the Roman Renaissance. Its knowl- 
edge of ancient Roman and Greek forms was less, but its feeling and 
creative ability was much greater. Without bothering after pedagog- 
ical accuracy in details, it achieved Classic rhythm. 

The Florentine Renaissance is rich with inheritance from the arts 
of the eastern Mediterranean, Byzantine, Saracenic, Sicilian, but its 
proportions are,so exquisite, and its compositions so simple, that the 


furniture of its creation makes the furniture of the Roman Renais- 
_ sance tawdry by comparison. 


Four periods in the world’s history have been distinguished for 
accentuation of straight line effects, the Age of Pericles, the Gothic 
Age, the Age of Louis XVI, and the Florentine Renaissance. In 
Gothic, to be sure, vertical lines have been accentuated at the expense 
of horizontal, and we have a style that compared with other styles is 
perpendicular. But in Louis XVI, and in Greek of the Fifth Cen- 
tury B. C., and in Florentine Renaissance, we have the accentuation, 
not only of vertical lines to give upward movement, but also of horizon-— 
tal lines to imprison the vertical lines and establish the symmetrical 
repose that is the Classic ideal. } All Italian Renaissance furniture is 

116 \ 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 


Classic furniture, but the classicism of the Roman Renaissance is less 
simple and less severe than that of the Florentine Renaissance, and 
under the impulsion of Michelangelo was moving toward the sinuosi- 
_ties of Baroque. 

Italian Renaissance is a Classic style. It is held to earth by the 
strength of its horizontals. Just as Gothic furniture usually is high, 
and tends to look high even when it is low, so Italian Renaissance fur- 
niture is usually low and tends to look low even when it is high. This 
is made clear by accompanying illustrations of Italian Renaissance 
chests, cabinets, tables and chairs, almost always made of walnut. 

One of the most important pieces of Italian Renaissance furniture 
is the chest (cassone). In the Middle Ages, Kuropeans lived in their 
chests, just as now we sometimes speak of travelers living in their 
trunks. When nobles went from the winter residence in the city to 
the summer residence in the country, they carried with them in their 
chests, drawn on ox wagons, not only clothing and money and jewels 
but also linen and bedding, tapestries and other draperies, dishes and 
cooking utensils. Chairs and benches being few, they used the chests 
at home as well as at inns, to sit on, eat on, and eyen to sleep on. 

In the Fifteenth Century, life having become more settled, the 
chests became less movable and more luxurious. ‘The panels of some 
were adorned with exquisite intarsia. Others were enriched with 
sculpture in wood, others with ornament in gesso relief, and still others 
with paintings by famous masters. 

A royal development from the cassone is the Ilorentine cas- 
sapanca, or chest-bench. It is a large, low, flat-top chest, standing on 
a low platform, enclosed on three sides by straight back and arms that 
rise from the platform. In the Fifteenth Century there was little 
carving, and the other ornament was intarsia. In the Sixteenth Cen- 
tury the flat shapes gave way to more movement, curves began to be 
introduced into the outlines, and carving crowded out intarsia. While 
a cassapanca, with rich crimson velvet cushion and pillow is extra- 
ordinarily beautiful, the seat is hard from the luxurious modern point 
of view. This is easily corrected. Remove the lid and a little more 
and set a flat-springed mattress down into the chest part. ‘Then you 
have a sofa soft enough to use as a bed, but in beauty still a cassa- 
panca. 

Like the cassapanca, the chairs of the Italian Renaissance are 
more beautiful than comfortable, although when properly handled 

117 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


/ they can be made comfortable. The two principal types were the 
| straight chair and the X chair, the latter being developed from the 
\ ancient Roman folding stool. Both types of chairs were often uphol- 
stered with velvet and other textiles, fringes, tassels, and nails having 
large gold and bronze heads. ‘The woodwork of the stretchers was 
exceedingly simple, sometimes the posts carrying the arms in front 
were turned, and usually the back posts terminated in conventionally 
curved acanthus leaf brackets. Sometimes beautiful bronze finials 
took the place of these brackets. Often, a shoe on each side of the 
chair carried the feet terminating in front in lion’s paws seldom 
carved with any semblance to nature. As the Sixteenth Century 
s advanced, the use, in front, of wide carved and pierced splats became 
) more common, the arms were more often softened into slender S 
curves and the backs leaned more away from the perpendicular. 

One of the most magnificent of the Florentine beds is that for- 
merly in the Davanzati Palace, but now in a splendid Park Avenue 
apartment in New York, where the owner uses its wealth of surround- 
ing chests as a convenient storehouse for telephone and wardrobe. This 
bed illustrates splendidly the passion for thin, straight lines that dom- 
‘nated the Florentine Renaissance. It illustrates also the passion for 
the horizontal that dominates all Classic but especially the Classic 
of this period. About this bed there is no restlessness, no disturbance, 
no unnecessary movement. It is the most reposeful bed that I know. 

- The large rectangular tables of the Italian Renaissance are in- 
comparably beautiful. ‘Their proportions are uniformly so just, the 
carving is so appropriate and so effective though so simple, and the 
‘walnut of which they are made so gloriously free from imperfections, 
\ that I can never persuade myself to prefer to them the noble tables of 
the French Renaissance, in spite of the infinite superiority of the 
latter in rich carving. Among the most perfect Florentine Renais- 
sance tables in America are four from a monastery at Siena, now 
divided among different owners, and one of them shortened to meet — 
the exigencies of the space where it is installed. The shortening was 
executed with great skill, and one of the surplus pieces of ancient 
wood has been transformed into the only ancient Italian Renaissance 
telephone shelf with which I am acquainted. Another of the surplus 
pieces is a hall shelf carrying a superb small majolica plate from the 
Morgan Collection, used as a card tray. 
Some of the large Italian Renaissance tables, like some of the 
118 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 


chests, are copied almost directly from Roman originals in marble, 
but a majority of them, while suggesting Classic ancestry, have been 
simplified to meet the requirements of Florentine taste. 

Quite as interesting as the larger ones, are many of the smaller 
rectangular tables and many of those of octagonal shape. 

Delightful in proportions, and exquisite though simple and in- 
expensive in workmanship, are the sideboards and cabinets and desks 
-and bookeases of the Italian Renaissance, often enriched with in- 
tarsia. ‘The plain, round pulls, whether in wood or bronze, are always 
just the right size, and the panels are always just the right shape. 
They demonstrate beyond contradiction the blessed fact that what is 
worth paying for, in millinery or furniture, is taste. The value of 
the raw materials counts for something, the perfection of the work- 
manship counts for more, but rhythm of form and perfection of 
ornament and texture count for most. 

Italian Renaissance cabinets are useful as well as beautiful. Their 
numerous shelves and drawers offer much space for the convenient 
storage of silver and linen and books and music and other household 
necessities. They are easily transformed internally to carry the most 
modern inventions. The finest phonograph I know is an Italian Six- 
teenth Century commode with side and front doors as well as lid 
selected for its suitable dimensions as well as for its singularly and un- 
expectedly delicate flat carving, crimson velvet and gold finish of 
metal above and ancient-style coarse damask below give richness of 
color to the compartments that carry the books of records and the 
needle and self-stopping, electrically impelled disk. The ancient 
hinges and the large key are iron with the faintest suggestion of poly- 
chrome still remaining. 

Many of the low and small Italian Renaissance side chairs are 
rich with spindles, especially in the back, but the spindles of course 

are always slender and regular as compared with the Baroque spindles 
\of the Seventeenth Century. 

Benches and stools were in common use during the Italian Renais- 
sance, especially at the dinner table, chairs being reserved for the 
favored few. During the Sixteenth Century, the sgabello (stool), 
made entirely of wood, was usually overloaded with carving. Whether 
with back: or without, the sgabello is one of the most uncomfortable 
pieces of furniture ever invented, although beautifully decorative 
when arranged alongside wall or table. 

119 


$$ 


5 


“St. Ursula’s Dream,” in the Venice Academy. Note the rich inlay on the box of the bed- 
stead, and on the front of the bench that lines the wall. The arms and back of the chair 
on the farther side of the bed are also inlaid, apparently with ivory. The architecture of the 
bed with its round-arched headboard, is imposing. The slenderness of the turned bedposts is 
striking. The working furniture—stool, writing table with fringed cover, and small cabinet— 
is small and comparatively unimportant, but the cabinet is inlaid 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE AS PICTURED BY THE VENETIAN PAINTER, CARPACCIO 


120 


Luv 


dO WOHSOW NVLITOCOULEHN AHL NI HNOSSYV 


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NVSSIVNGY NVIIVII 


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Sixteenth Century, with ornament in carved wood 


Late Fifteenth Century, with ornament in gesso. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CHESTS 


122 


Made in Florence about 1550 


Made in North Italy early in the Sixteenth Century 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CHESTS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


123 


Made in Italy early in the Sixteenth Century 


Made in Umbria in the Sixteenth Century 


ITALIAN CHESTS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


x 


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Plain on the outside (see above) but the inside of the lid bril- 
liant with painted polychrome. In the collection of H. L. Duhring 


ITALIAN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WALNUT CASSONE 


125 


GNVLIS NO LSUHO AGNV ‘LHNIGVO AONVSSIVNYYU NVVIVIL 


prpuotds o1v ysoyo ayy go sjaurd pazured amoayodtod ayy, 
~ergdjapepiyd “oMOF{ ad1Io9D JO worTjoaTjoo ay} ul Gog 


As it was when installed in a salon of the Davanzati Palace, Florence 


As it was installed in the second-floor great hall of the Davanzati Palace, Florence. The tap- 
estry at the end is French-Flemish, Late Gothic from the beginning of the Sixteenth Century 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE, NOW IN AMERICA 


Modern American 


As it was installed in a chamber of the Davanzati Palace, Florence. 
The bed is now in an apartment on Park Avenue, New York City 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE, ANCIENT AND MODERN 


198 


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Florentine sideboard from the Davanzati Palace 
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE MADE IN FLORENCE 


129 


(4) (5) 


(3) Upholstered with gold-stamped leather; the others, with characteristic red velvet and fringe 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CHAIRS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


130 


- 


(1) Brass and iron chair in the Metropolitan Museum (2) Dante chair from the Davanzati Palace Collection 
of Art. Made for the Celso Amerigo Turchi, abbot bought in America by Caruso 
of Siena in 1601 


a ee ae eye ee 


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(3) From the Fifteenth, (4) from the Sixteenth Century. Both in the National Museum at Florence 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CHAIRS 


131 


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ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CABINETS 


132 


GORE, 


Made in Florence in the Sixteenth Century for a member of the Strozzi family. Acquired 
in 1916 by the celebrated tenor, the late Enrico Caruso, for his villa near Florence 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CABINET BOUGHT IN AMERICA 


133 


French Renaissance walnut draw table of simple type in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


ITALIAN CONTRASTED WITH FRENCH RENAISSANCE 


134 


Neer ad cba 


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Sold in New York in 1916 to Caruso for his Florentine residence, the Villa Signa 
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CARVED DOORS 


137 


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In the church of Santa Maria in Organo, Verona, Italy 
THE FINEST INTARSIA IN THE WORLD 


140 


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143 


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RENAISSANCE WOODWORK, NOW 


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VENETIAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CARVED, PAINTED AND GILT CHAIRS 


146 


CHAPTER VI 
LATER ITALIAN FURNITURE 


During the Sixteenth Century, Italy had led the world in matters 
of style. During the first half of the Seventeenth Century, Italy con- 
tinued to lead, though less positively. While Italian architects, paint- 
ers and sculptors, played a prominent part, relatively the Netherlands 
and France and Spain and England had grown in importance, in the 
development of -the Baroque Renaissance out of the Classic Renais- 
sance. 

Between the Classic forms of the Sixteenth Century and the 
Baroque forms of the Seventeenth Century, there is a marked differ- 
ence. So that it is better, in speaking of the Renaissance of the 
Seventeenth Century, to drop the “Renaissance” altogether and to 
group the styles of the Seventeenth Century under the general heading 
of Baroque, making clear such variations from the normal as occurred 
in England. (See Chapter X.) 

The Seventeenth Century is emphatically a sculptural century. 
The furniture is sculptural and largely architectural. The architec- 
ture is emphatically sculptural, overloaded with seulptural ornament. 
Accentuation of parts is common, at the expense of unity of compo- 
sition. Even painters and tapestry designers were obliged to simulate 
heavy sculptural relief on a flat surface, and hence to crowd their 
compositions with shadows leaving little room for interesting small 
details, such as made delightful the backgrounds of Gothic tapestries 
and were still conspicuous in the tapestries and the paintings of the 
Renaissance. 

In the birth of Baroque, the influence of Michelangelo had 
been dominant. In his paintings, as well as in his sculpture, his effort 
to express Gothic passion in Classic forms produced results that 
often violate the fundamental principles of good taste. His archi- 

147 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


tecture, like his sculpture and his painting erred on the side of over- 
emphasis. 

Baroque tendencies were strongly marked in many of the works 
of art of the Italian Renaissance of the last quarter of the Sixteenth 
Century. Much of the furniture is heavily carved, and begins to look 
like French Renaissance furniture. The backs of chairs slant more, 
and are higher, and two-story furniture begins to be developed, by the 
superposition of chest on table, or chest on chest. 

Nevertheless, so much of the Italian furniture of the first half 
of the Seventeenth Century was still closely related to the furniture 
of a century before that it is apt to be labeled Italian Renaissance, 
in museums and in books. 

Considerable Italian furniture of the first half of the Seventeenth 
Century shows Spanish influence, especially in the use of leather 
upholstery on chairs. 

During the last half of the Seventeenth Century Italy ceased to 
lead and began to follow. Italian furniture of the Late Seventeenth 
and Kighteenth Centuries so obviously copies French that it is best 
grouped under the headings, “Louis XIV,” “Louis XV,” “Louis 
XVI,” “Directoire,” “Empire.” But this Italian-French furniture 
by no means follows its models faithfully. The interpretations, like 
those of England and Spain, are strongly influenced by Italian tra- 
ditions, and the forms are uniformly heavier and less graceful than 
those of the French originals. 

Towards the latter part of the Kighteenth Century, while Italian 
furniture continues to copy French, the Classic Revival again brings 
the influence of Italy to the front. But it is the influence of Ancient 
Italy, not of Modern Italy. It is inspired by ancient Roman build- 
ings, by ancient Greek buildings, and by Pompeii. 

The most distinctive and interesting Italian furniture of. the 
Kighteenth Century is that painted in polychrome on yellow, red or 
blue grounds. Much of this furniture, during the past ten years, has 
been imported to America where it has been much copied. 

Of this furniture, our illustrations of Venetian painted furniture, 
some in color, give a good idea. Not always beautiful in shape and 
not always well made, it charms because of its cheerfulness and 
picturesqueness. 

In much of the Rococo painting on this furniture, I see the in- 
fluence of Tiepolo, the Boucher of Italy. Assuredly, it was this 

148 


LATER ITALIAN 


influence that warmed the splendid architectural engravings of Piran- 
esi, who began by making architectural drawings as hard and dry and 
uninteresting as most of those of today. 

Piranesi was a genius. He was the greatest architectural en- 
graver who ever lived. Although he could not design fine buildings 
or furniture himself, his records of Ancient [Italian architecture are 
an invaluable source for modern architects and designers of furniture. 

He could put vastly more into a picture than is visible to the eye 
of the most perfect modern camera. He was also wise in his elimina- 
tion of the unnecessary details that make photographs stupid. 

Piranesi is like an interpreter who opens our eyes to the reading 
of a strange language. To the ignoramus, the Palaces of the Pala- 
tine, and even the Colosseum and the Basilica of Constantine are 
refuse material out of which to construct modern buildings. Seen 
through the etched plates of Piranesi, they are alive with the spirit 
that created them. ‘They are a direct and vivid message to us from the 
rulers of the greatest architectural empire that ever existed. 

Piranesi had tremendous influence upon his contemporaries. The 
French in their Revival of Classicism towards the end of the reign 
of Louis XV, studied his work with passionate enthusiasm. After his 
death his sons transported the huge copperplates to Paris, because 
_ there was the best market for the prints. Later a complete edition of 
the more than a thousand pictures was brought out in Paris by Didot. 
Now the plates are again in Rome at the Royal Calcografia, and fresh 
prints are sold at a trifling price. 

In England, the influence of Italy and of Piranesi was ever more 
significant. The great English architect, Robert Adam, was a warm 
personal friend of Piranesi and prized his work. Moreover, Adam, 
far more completely than the French, caught the spirit of Ancient 
Rome in interior decoration and with extraordinary ability transplant- 
ed Greek, Roman and Etruscan forms to the walls and furniture of 
English mansions. The Italian character of his work was accentuat- 
ed by his constant employment of Italian artists and artisans. 


(3) 


(2) 
(1) Painted in polychrome and gilt; (2) and (3) carved 


ITALIAN FURNITURE OF THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 


(1) 


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a Ae + ay Pt sey es e ae . r = 
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ysemep users zo Aroyspoydn [eurst4o s}t Y}LM areyo sanboey pay (g) ‘auto1yaAjod 
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From the New York studio and residence of Paul Chalfin 


VENETIAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TABLE AND MIRROR ARRANGED WITH ACCESSORIES OF THE PERIOD 


154 


of?) (3) 


Painted in bright polychrome on cream ground, about 1780. (1) top; (2) front; (3) end 


ITALIAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COMMODE 


155 


SUIVHO AMALNAO HLINAALHOIA WLV | 


Sey the: 


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Red Venetian wardrobe, commode, and mirror, with painted 
panels and interesting hardware, from the end of the century 


ITALIAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE 


157 


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irved, polychrome and gilt. Attributed to Hughes Sambin 
FRENCH RENAISSANCE CABINET 


160 


| CHAPTER VII 
FRENCH RENAISSANCE FURNITURE 


The carving on French Renaissance furniture is of supreme ex- 
cellence. Compared with it the carving on Italian Renaissance furni- 
ture is fat and flat and crude. Indeed, the carving on French 
Renaissance furniture is almost too fine. It almost seems to dwarf 
the utility of the objects it adorns. It looks almost like the work of 
sculptors trained to produce furniture that, on account of its extra- 
ordinary intricacy and perfection of detail, might win the applause 
of a jury of jewelers. 

The perfection of French furniture carving is due to the Gothic 
tradition. French Romanesque and Gothic sculpture is second to 
none. The finest pieces rank with the best that was created in Ancient 
Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. Gothic is essentially 
a carved style, with the chisel used as freely for the rendering of beau- 
tiful forms as was the brush in Renaissance Italy and in China. 

The great difference between French Renaissance art and archi- 
tecture and Italian is due to this Gothic tradition. ‘The difference is 
manifest not only in the carving, but also in the construction. French 
Renaissance furniture is not only higher, but looks higher than it 
really is. This is especially marked in the cabinets, many of which are 
illustrated in this volume. 

While Italian Renaissance cabinets are low and seldom have 
more than one story, French Renaissance cabinets often have two or 
three stories, and sometimes four, and horizontal lines are constantly 
broken in sympathy with the upward tendency of Gothic. The pedi- 
ments that occur at the top of so many French cabinets are constantly 
broken in this upward effort. 

Nevertheless, the motifs of French Renaissance furniture show 
clearly their Italian and Roman origin. The acanthus leaf is every- 

161 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 
where. Fluted columns and pilasters are frequent. Sphinxés and 
lion and human heads growing out of lion legs, derived from Ancient 
\ Egyptian through Roman) and exquisitely carved, show in a refined 
‘manner the same tendency towards exaggeration that marks Eliza- 
bethan. Walnut is the favorite wood, and for carving of this type 
is indispensable. 

While Italian Renaissance furniture carving shows the influence 
of Ancient Roman and Romanesque marble reliefs, French Renais- 
sance furniture carving breathes especially the inspiration of Gothic 
wood sculpture in the round, portraiture and caricature as well as 
forms purely decorative. ‘The French moldings are sharper and cast 
sharper shadows, and the French shapes are slenderer, due largely to 
vertical elongation. )('The human bodies and faces in French Renais- 


sance paintings and manuscripts and tapestry, as well as in French: 


Renaissance sculpture, are exaggerated vertically. ‘The style is easy 
to caricature. Indeed, it seems impossible for modern artists and 
artisans not to caricature it when they try to reproduce it. ) 

Small inset panels of black marble or ebony occur occasionally 
on French Renaissance cabinets, and some of the chests are elabo- 
rately inlaid, though on these also carving is a favorite ornament. 

French Renaissance shows to especial advantage in its long and 
draw tables. The plain top and the horizontal extension give repose 
lacking in the three-storied cabinets. 'The bulbous spindles of the 
standards though strenuously heavy are inoffensive as compared with 
their Dutch and German cousins. ‘The emphasized, carved ornamen- 
tations of the cross stretchers comes where it is veiled by shadows 
from above. 


Much of the furniture from Southern France is almost Italian. \ 


\. Many of the pieces are obviously copied from Italian originals. 
Some of the draw tables with plain round legs are distinguished 
from Italian principally by the balls pendant at the corners. In all 
French Renaissance furniture this tendency to use pendants is a 
Gothic survival. 

Many writers deplore the fact that in the Sixteenth Century 
France worshipped strange gods; in other words, that France trailed 
Italy in matters of style. To my mind, it is one of the most fortunate 
things that could have happened. 

Many French Renaissance chairs are marvels of beauty. This is 
true of those with chest seat and lofty back, based on Gothic originals 

162 


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FRENCH RENAISSANCE 


but redecorated with Italian ornament, though with Gothic linen-fold 
panels often retained. It is also true of the lower skeletonized or 
frame chairs, with plain round posts and small ball feet, in which the 
proportions are perfect and the execution superb. 

The greatness of any nation depends upon the greatness of its 
accomplishment, and the greatness of its accomplishment is largely 
dependent upon the greatness of its traditions, inherited or borrowed. 

In the Sixteenth Century, Frenchmen were keenly awake to the 
importance of Ancient Roman and Renaissance Italian. They were 
determined to recover an inheritance justly theirs, neglected or for- 
gotten during the Dark Ages. ‘They were determined to have a share 
not only in the revival of Ancient Learning, but also in the revival of 
Ancient Art. If for a time they seemed to neglect their more imme- 
diate inheritance it was because Gothic had run its course. 

The present is, of all periods, always the period to distrust. Only 
by constantly returning to the enthusiasms and accomplishments of 
the past can we grow truly great. ‘The inspiration that has come to 
the modern world from the newly developed interest in Egyptian Art 
is supremely important for the future. 

When France, in the Sixteenth Century, reasserted its right to 
a Classic inheritance, it laid the foundations for the leadership in 
style that has again been hers since the middle of the Seventeenth 
Century. 


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FRENCH RENAISSANCE WOOD CARVING 


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192 


CHAPTER VIII 


we. 


The Louis styles are here harmonized with consummate skill 
FRENCH EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE IN A NEW YORK RESIDENCE 


194 


CHAPTER VIII 
LATER FRENCH FURNITURE 
Louis XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, DirEcroreE, anp Empire 


Compared with Louis XV furniture, that of Louis XIV abounds 
in straight lines. But compared with Renaissance furniture, it 
abounds in curves. Tired of the straight lines of the Sixteenth Cen- 
tury, the makers of the Seventeenth Century introduced broken lines 
and curves to give variety and sculptural interest. Curved legs on 
chairs began to take the place of straight legs, and forms were modi- 
fied in the direction of sculptural massiveness. 

The proper name for the style of the Seventeenth Century as a 
whole is Baroque, an abbreviation of Baroque Renaissance. But while 
Baroque as a descriptive adjective for pearls means “heavy and irreg- 
ular in shape,” Baroque in architecture, decoration and furniture 
means not “irregular” but “symmetrical.” An illustration of the ex- 
tent to which symmetry was accentuated at this period are the doors 
of the Chateau de Marly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Fundamentally, the Seventeenth Century is a sculptural century. 
The forms of art express themselves in a sculptural manner. ‘The 
authority of Michelangelo reigns supreme and painters are compelled 
to force everything forward from the canvas with heavy shadows. 
Characteristic Baroque painters are Rubens and Rembrandt. 

Especially do architecture and furniture of the Baroque period 
exaggerate sculpturally. The facades of buildings are crowded with 
sculptural ornament, forcing details at the expense of the general 
composition. Windows are enshrined in tabernacles that seem to give 
each the importance due to an entire building. 

Furniture becomes constantly more massive and awkward. Chairs 
and tables have to be heavily braced with X and other stretchers to 
keep the legs from wobbling to destruction. 

195 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


During the period of Louis XIII (1610-1643), the influence of 
Flanders and Italy was dominant in French art generally, and broken 
lines and huge S and C curves sought grandeur, usually at the expense 
of beauty. Indeed, much of the furniture of the period of Louis XIII 
might even be called awkward. 

While the style of Louis XIV (1643-1715) is also a Baroque 
style, and is also massive and magnificent, it is light and graceful com- 
pared with the style of Louis XIII. During the period of Louis XIV 
France became the dominant state in Europe, artistically as well as 
politically. During the period of Louis XIV, the French acquired 
the ascendancy in matters of style and taste which they have ever 
since maintained, and which they had previously possessed during the 
Romanesque and Gothic centuries. 

While the style of Louis XIV is a Baroque style and a grand 
style, it is a Baroque style refined and chastened and polished with 
consummate skill. Under the direction of Charles Lebrun at the Gobe- 
lins, furniture and tapestries and other works of art were produced 
for the Sun King, delightful in proportions and splendid in detail. 
The extravagances of earlier Italian, French and Flemish Baroque 
were carefully avoided, and details were brought into scale and har- 
mony with the whole. 

Louis XIV furniture is not adapted to small rooms or mediocre 
environments, but for large rooms and splendid backgrounds it is 
appropriate and adequate. Life at the court of Louis XIV and in the 
palace of Versailles was on a large scale. Rooms, instead of being 
many and minute as in a modern apartment house, were few and huge. 
Comfort was lacking, but elegance was everywhere. The King and 
Queen and all their entourage of noble lords and ladies were splendidly 
appareled, though lacking bath rooms and other conveniences. The 
King’s bedroom was rich and royal in furniture and furnishings, but 
served also as dining room and reception room. 

From the modern point of view there was a decided lack of chairs 
in Louis XIV interiors. The proudest ladies of the Court were 
obliged to stand through long receptions, and even those allowed seats 
by royal favor sat on uncomfortable stools and benches. The sump- 
tuous arm chairs associated with the name of Louis XIV were few in 
number and might almost be called thrones because of the distinction 
their use conferred. 

Compared with the styles of Louis XV and Louis XVI, the 

196 


LATER FRENCH 


style of Louis XIV is large and heavy. The chairs and tables of 
Louis XIV are larger and heavier-than the chairs and tables of Louis 
XV and Louis XVI. The chairs and tables of Louis XIV were 
made for use in large and magnificent interiors where entertaining 
was done on a large scale. 
Oddly enough, there is a definite relation between the styles of 
these three Louis’s and the lengths of their reigns. Louis XIV was 
King for seventy-two years. Louis XV was King for fifty-nine 
years. Louis XVI was King for eighteen years. The style of Louis 
XIV is a large style. The style of Louis XV is a middle-sized style. 
The style of Louis XVI is a small style. 
What applies to size, apples also to color. The colors of Louis 

XIV are comparatively heavy and dark. The colors of Louis XV 
are lighter and more vivacious. The colors of Louis XVI are soft 
and gentle and gray. . 


Especially significant is the sequence of shapes during the periods : 


of the three Louis’s. The style of Louis XV abounds in curves and 
is preéminently a curved style as compared with the styles of both 
Louis XIV and Louis XVI. But the style of Louis XIV is by no 
means a straight-line style. The style of Louis XIV is a large-curve 
style, a style of large curves combined with straight lines, many of 
them broken. 

The line relation between the three styles is illustrated clearly 
by the form that S’s and C’s assume in the three periods, not only in 
the alphabet but also and especially in decorative designs. 

The S’s and C’s of Louis XIV are round and symmetrical. _ The 
S’s and C’s of Louis XV are less heavy and are not symmetrical. The 
S’s and C’s of Louis XVI are elongated and slender, and symmetrical. 

We have now arrived at the most distinctive single feature of 
the style of Louis XV, the feature that makes it easy to distinguish 
Louis XV furniture from furniture of the Louis XIV and Louis 
XVI periods. The style of Louis XIV is a symmetrical style. The 
style of Louis XVI is also a symmetrical style. But the style of 
Louis XV that cuts in between is unsymmetrical. 

The style of Louis XV is one of the most distinctive decorative 
styles the world has ever known, perhaps the most distinctive style. 
Its Rococo shapes are unlike any shapes ever before created. The 
presence of Rococo shapes in any piece of furniture is proof positive 


that that piece of furniture is not earlier than the period of Louis XV.) 


197 


a 


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‘ 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


The S’s and C’s of Louis XV are unsymmetrical. ‘They start 
large and end small. The C’s assume almost the shape of the human 
ear, large above and small below. The S’s dwindle from a large curve 
above into a small curve below. 

This lack of symmetry is due to the fact that the style of Louis 
XV is a Naturalistic style, a Back to Nature style, an Art Nouveau 
style. It is not an architectural style but a decorative style. It is 
not a symmetrical style, but a style of irregular curves. 

The panel shapes of the three Louis’s are distinctive. Those of 
Louis XIV tend to be squares, those of Louis XVI to be slender 


rectangles, while those of Louis XV are transitional. 


The moldings of the three styles are also distinctive. ‘The mold- 


“ings of Louis XIV are large and full and round, and apt to be em- 


phasized by ornament that crosses them. The moldings of Louis XV 
are less heavy, and the ornament begins to run more with the molding 
than across it. The moldings of Louis XVI are not only slender but 
tend to look even more slender than they are, because of the parallel 
lines that run lengthwise on the surface, in the same way that the 
flutings of a Greek column make it seem longer and higher, while the 
moldings of the base and the entablature make them seem longer and 
lower. 

The furniture of Louis XIV is not difficult to understand, if one 
knows how it was used. The best place to learn how it was used is 
Versailles, fifteen miles from Paris, an easy trip by rail or automobile. 

Here one can see the bedchamber of Louis XIV which for many 
years was the centre of society and government in France. Here the 
King held his audiences and received the remonstrances of Parliament. 
Here, on September 1, 1715, he died, and in this bed his body was 
exposed to view after death. 

The elaborate mural decorations were by Lebrun, and the furni- 
ture in/tortoise-shell and bronze\by Boulle. The railing in front of 


‘the bed was to guard the King from the close approach of visitors, 


and behind it no one was admitted except by his express permission. 
The Palace of Versailles is not a museum in the ordinary sense of 
the word. It is not a haphazard collection of objects unsympathetical- 
ly arranged in an unsuitable building. Versailles is Louis XIV him- 
self, incarnate in the decorative forms that expressed his personality 
and the personality of his artists and artisans. 
Just as the Pharaohs will always be kings of Egypt, though 
198 


LATER FRENCH 


their bodies were mummified thousands of years ago, so Louis XIV 
will always be King at Versailles. ‘This is the effigy of his greatness. 
This is the pyramid that affirms the decorative importance of his age. 

Also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is it possible to see 
reflected in material form the personality of Louis XIV. The Marly 
doors, spoken of above, keep him still alive. On them we see carved 
not only the three fleurs-de-lys of the Bourbons, but also the double 
L of Louis XIV, together with his sceptre and his staff of justice. 

The Louis XIV chairs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art help 
interpret and restore the personality of Louis XIV. They are part 
of the Hoentschel Collection of French furniture and decorations, 
purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906 and presented to the Muse- 
um. ‘They have not the grace and vivacity of the Louis XV chairs 
in the same collection, nor the gentleness and the delicacy of the Louis 
XVI chairs also in the same collection, but they have the dignity and 
the masculine strength justly associated with all works of art of the 
period of Louis XIV. 

Let us study the chairs of Louis XIV standing on the first floor 
of the Morgan Wing. Most of them have cabriole legs (S-shaped), 
most of them have X stretchers, and all of them have three, some of 
them four, sides of the seat and back straight. The X stretchers are 
usually made up of S’s, the arms are usually S’s, and the S posts sup- 
porting the arms are well to the front above the front legs. Most ) 
important of all in distinguishing the.style of Louis XIV from that 
of Louis XV, the posts supporting the back are straight. } 

Several of the largest and heaviest of the Louis XIV chairs in 
the Hoentschel Collection, however, either have no curves, or merely 
C’s introduced into the stretchers. These chairs are more like the 
chairs of Louis XIII, are more architectural and have more architec- 
tural ornament than the later chairs of Louis XIV. 

A noticeable feature of the cabriole-legged chairs of Louis XIV 
is that the legs go out diagonally from the body, that all four legs are” 
alike, and that many of the legs are animal legs, ending in deer feet. ) 
Far different are these animal legs from the animal legs of the chairs — 
of ancient Kgypt. As pointed out in Chapter I, if an Kgyptian lion- 
legged chair came suddenly to life, it could immediately walk off, 
because all its four legs face right, with the front legs where front legs 
ought to be and the hind legs where hind legs ought to be. But if a 
Louis XIV chair suddenly came to life and tried to walk off, with its 

199 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


four legs all facing out diagonally, it would depart simultaneously in 
four different directions. 

There is absolutely no excuse for confusing Louis XIV chairs 
with Louis XV chairs. There is also no excuse for obstinately affirm- 
ing that a chair is pure Louis XIV or pure Louis XV, when it is 
transitional between the two. Most of the transitional Louis XIV- 
XV chairs are usually called Regence, which is nothing more nor less 
than early Louis XV, the eight years of the minority of Louis XV, 
during which Philippe d’Orleans was Regent of France. 

When Louis XIV died, in 1715, he was out of tune with the 
times. People were tired of him. He was too old. He had reigned 
too long. Coming to the throne at the age of five, he had wielded the 
sceptre for seventy-two years. Just as, if James Buchanan were still 
President of the United States; imagine how universal would be the 
cry for change! 

In his youth Louis XIV had been a good sport, almost too much 
of a sport. In his old age he had become solemn and sedate, but, 
meanwhile, millions of French children had been born whose sym- 
pathies were not with senility but with youth. 

The son of Louis XIV grew up and hoped to succeed him. But 
the son died, while the father continued to live on. 

The grandson of Louis XIV grew up and hoped to succeed him. — 
But the grandson in turn died, while the grandfather continued to 
live on. 

Finally, in 1715, after these successive disappointments to the 
youth of France, Louis XIV was succeeded by his great-grandson, 
Louis XV, then five years old. 

No wonder that there was reaction. No wonder that people 
generally sought liberty and even license, in morals as in art. No 
wonder that there was a violent movement away from the classic 
traditions of Louis XIV to the naturalistic innovations of Louis XV. 

The Eighteenth Century as a whole is a Chinese style. In the 
Kighteenth Century, Chinese decorative art dominated Western 
Kurope. Much of the peculiar and extraordinary charm of Kight- 
eenth Century French furniture was borrowed from Chinese paint- 
ings, porcelains and silks, and lacquer work. 

Already, in the latter part of the Seventeenth Century, the 
Chinese influence had made itself strongly felt in western Europe. 
Great quantities of Chinese blue porcelain were brought by sea from 

200 


LATER FRENCH 


China around the Cape of Good Hope to France, Holland and Eng- 
land, and Dutch Delft pottery and tiles were developed as an avowed 
imitation of this blue porcelain. 

An illustration of the interest felt by Louis XIV in Chinese blue 
porcelain was the so-called “Trianon de Porcelaine.” One of his fair 
friends was commonly called “La Princesse de Chine.” Being asked 
by the young King to admire the stupendous glories of the Palace of 
Versailles, which was then building, she responded that in her country 
perfection was sought rather than size. Whereupon Louis XIV, in 
the effort to please her, erected a summer palace rich with French and 
Dutch blue porcelain tiles and vases in the Chinese style. Later, 
when Madame de Maintenon gained the ascendency over the mind 
and heart of the King, the Grand Trianon replaced the so-called 
“Trianon de Porcelaine.”’ 

The dominant influence in the Rococo forms of Louis XV is 
Chinese. Boucher, most characteristic of the Rococo painters, not 
only haunted the shops of the Parisian dealers in Chinese art and 
made. an important collection of Chinese objects, but also produced 
decorative drawings and paintings galore, in the Chinese style. He 
even designed a set of Chinese tapestries for the looms at Beauvais. 
Pillement was another of the many designers copying and adapting 
Chinese pictures and decorative forms. 

{ The S’s and C’s of French decorative art, which had already shown 
\ Chinese influence in the period of Louis XIV, acquired all the irreg- 
ularities of Chinese cloud scrolls in the reign of Louis XV. Indeed, 
the unsymmetrical and irregular curves of Rococo, whether expressed 
/in wood or metal or vernis-martin (the French imitation of Chinese 
lacquer), are a flattering tribute to the art of Chinese painters and 
_ designers. 

Nevertheless, all this copying of Chinese art was executed with 
the utmost skill and in such a manner as to rhyme completely with 
the European environment. Guérin’s work on “French Chinoiserie 
of the Kighteenth Century” illustrates this. 

The style of Louis XV, 1715-1774, is a free style, an unrestrained — 
style, a Naturalistic style. Symmetry is avoided like the pest. Leaves 
and flowers and nature forms generally are no longer tortured into 

_unnatural regularity. Metal and wood become almost fluid in their 
power to express the devious sinuosities of Nature. 

The legs of Louis XV chairs, like most of those of Louis XIV, 


201 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


are S curves. But the S’s are altogether different in shape. The 
curve dwindles in size as it approaches the bottom, and the thickness 
of the chair leg also dwindles. In other words, Louis XV chairs have 
slender ankles, while Louis XIV chairs have fat ankles! Seats and 
backs lose all their straight lines and have sides consisting entirely of 
curves. The front posts carrying the arms recede and slant back, and 
the S curve of the arms becomes Rococo. Most significant of all and 
of greatest help in distinguishing the chairs of Louis XV from the 
chairs of Louis XIV, the posts carrying the back become curved. 
At this point I should like to say that Rococo as a style is synony- 


' mous with Louis XV. It began as a nickname but is now definitely 
) established, though it is apt to be employed to express the extreme 


effervescences, rather than the refined elegancies, of the Louis XV 
period. 
~The style of Louis XVI (1774-1792), is a Back to Classic style. 


\ Just as people were weary in 1715 of the dignity of Louis XIV, so 


in 1760 they were weary of the frivolity of Louis XV. I say 1760 
because the style of Louis XVI really begins about fourteen years 
ahead of its time. Furniture in which straight lines predominate over 
curves and Classic over Rococo, we are accustomed to call by the name 
of Louis X VI, even when it was made in the later years of the reign of 


/Louis XV. Moreover, the most interesting Louis X VI furniture is 


' that which is still warm with the curves of Louis XV, and which was 


made before Louis XVI ascended the throne. 
The whole period of Louis XV was a progress toward slender- 
f{zation. The style of Louis XVI is the most slender and gentle of 


‘all styles. Forms are made to look slender not only by elongating 


them but also by lining them with stripes and flutings. The legs and 
other vertical members of furniture are enriched with vertical lines to 
increase their apparent height, while the horizontal members are 
enriched with horizontal lines to increase their apparent length, the 
effect of the one balancing the effect of the other, and thus producing 
the repose we call Classic. ‘ 
In Louis XVI chairs, as in those of Louis XLV, the sides of the 
seats and backs are straight. The legs are also straight, usually fluted 


. columns inverted. But in earlier pieces warm with Rococo, the legs 


_are still curved, with curves modified away from the restlessness of. 


Louis XV to the restful flatness of Louis X VI. 


Compared with Louis XV furniture, that of Louis X VI is mon- 


202 


LATER FRENCH 


otonous. Indeed, the weakness of the whole style of Louis XVI is 
its monotony. Tor the infinite variety of natural forms of Louis XV, 
it substitutes tiny repeats and checkerboard regularity. 

The sequence of the styles of the three Louis’s is easy to study in 
commodes. The commodes of Louis XIV are heavy, the curves are 
round and regular, the metal mounts are massive and symmetrical, 
the marble tops are thick and heavy and in heavy striations of gray 
and black. ‘The marquetry is dark and heavy, and often of the type 
made famous by Boulle in tortoise-shell and metal. | 

In the period of Louis XV it seems as if French commodes had 
suddenly almost become living objects. The front and sides of the 
case break into bombé waves that swell like the sea; the sides, instead 
of coming straight forward, slant in; the marble top changes from dark 
gray to vivacious reds and yellows. ‘The hardware demonstrates the 
possibility of accomplishing in metal the almost impossible. ‘The mar- 
quetry, forsaking tortoise-shell and metal, produces, in thin slices of 
exotic woods, floral and chinoiserie surfaces that in grace and charm 
are unsurpassed by any accomplishment of any art in any period. 

Also beautiful are the commodes called Louis XVI, especially 
those that are still warm with Rococo and still have curved legs and 
vivacious marquetry. ‘The tendency of Louis XVI marquetry is 
towards checkerboard effects and vase effects and panels that lack 
interest though executed with consummate skill. The marble of the 
tops becomes an inoffensive gray, apt to be weak and meaningless 
in its markings. The hardware begins to detach itself from the gen- 
eral composition and to spot against the background, while the infinite 
variety of Louis XV pulls and escutcheons is replaced by the circles 
and sometimes tiresome simplicities of Louis XVI. 

Among the most beautiful chairs of the French Kighteenth Cen- 
tury are those upholstered with Gobelin and Beauvais tapestry seats 
and backs. While tapestry is extremely durable, it is also able to 
express with extraordinary vivacity decorative pictures and floral 
and other motifs. There is none of the flatness of damask or of paint- 
ed silk, and the richness of colors equals that of illuminated leather, 
while the surface texture is infinitely superior. 

Many of these seats and backs were woven after the designs of 
Oudry, Artistic Director of the Beauvais Tapestry Works, and later 
also of the Gobelins. Oudry’s rendering of animal forms was tre- 
mendously vivid, and his illustrations for La Fontaine’s “Fables,” 

203 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


so inany of which were woven into tapestry seats and backs in the 
Eighteenth Century, still continue to be copied at Aubusson and 
elsewhere. 

The ultimate perfection in chair and sofa upholstery seems to 
have been reached in a few of the finest examples woven at the Gobe- 
lins. The flowers of Tessier in combination with the Rococo pictures 
of Boucher produced results that have never been equaled in any other 
material. 


DIRECTOIRE AND EMPIRE 


The Directoire style is a kind of late Louis XVI or early Empire, 
and is much affected in France today. It is easy to use because there 
are no complications. “Simple Classic” is the shibboleth. It might 
be described as Louis X VI pushed to the nth degree. 

Of all French styles, Empire is the least French. In the name 
of “Classic” it committed so many sins that its deadly influence cast 
gloom over the whole of the Nineteenth Century. It has all the 
pomposity of Louis XIV combined with more than the monotony of 
Louis XVI. It revels in shiny surfaces of rosewood and mahogany, 
with metal mounts that seem lost in a wilderness of wood. 

The style of Louis XVI was kept still full of life by graces 
inherited from the style of Louis XV, but the Empire style is funereal, 
made more so by its unintelligent imitation of ancient Greek and 
Roman forms in an Imperial manner. In the Directoire and Empire 
periods we have chairs copied from ancient Greek and Roman chairs, 
with front legs and rear legs concaving out. We also have monu- 
mental chairs based on ancient marble chairs, though executed in wood. 
We also have ancient Egyptian details resulting from Napoleon’s 
briefly victorious visit to Egypt. 


en 


= 
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In the hands of the connoisseur the use of French furniture in the American home 
offers effects denied the users of the more conservative Italian and English styles 


FRENCH EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE IN A NEW YORK RESIDENCE 


205 


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From the Rougier Collection 


LOUIS XIII EBONY CABINET 


CRETE OEE 


Rem(erees a 


s Collection 


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EBONY CABINET 


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LOUIS 


208 


From the Chabriéres Collection 


LOUIS XIII WALNUT CUPBOARD 


209 


sa iF 


iy 


. Bet TV. SEMEN FB FIA BINT oe 


LOUIS XIII FURNITURE IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM 


210 


a 


Inlaid with mother-of-pearl and showing the influence of Italy 
FRENCH SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WALNUT CABINET 


Qi1 


collection of Baron de Forest 


In the 


f-pearl inlay on ebony. 


O 


and mother 


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W 


IV ARMOIRE BY BOULLE 


Ss xX 


LOUI 


212 


Eli Mlle | — 
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a SURRGRRRRRR RE 


PIII IEE SMSIO INNES SIA IIA ISIS sa.ye.9s0 snl 


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In the Louvre 
LOUIS XIV GRANDE ARMOIRE BY BOULLE 


213 


FO oT wae dei big 
west nS 


LOUIS XIV BOULLE FURNITURE 


214 


Commode by Boulle. In the Louvre 


LOUIS XIV FURNITURE 


215 


as SSS 
SS Scere 


~ 


t 


Part of | 
the Hoe 
ntscl 5 
‘ fag chel Collection Pitt eo tewiaele nt Morgan 
LOUIS XIV HAIRS N I | POI | 
° lerpo 
HE METROPOLI i 
TAN M 
OF AR 
T 


216 


Se eeebb uae nane 
b Werririnrreny 
seeesanannseelt 
2 rpeeeeeeses eh 
a 


syne 


Louis XV chair, carved, paint- Late Louis XIV chair, carved 
ed white and gold, and caned and caned (originally gilded) 


Late Louis XV sofa, upholstered in Aubusson tapestry 


LOUIS XV CONTRASTED WITH LOUIS XIV 


Q17 


Simple table of graceful form 


Desk and toilet table combined in marquetry and ormolu 


LOUIS XV FURNITURE IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM 


218 


LYV JO WOASONW NVLITOCOULAW AHL NI NHHOMAGOOM AX SINOT 


UOFHITO) [eyos}usoFY oy} WorZ aIn}UIny “uvsiopy Juodsstg “f¢ Fo 
WED ‘slr ‘Aus oy, any sy} uo vsnoy ev woaz Zurpaued yua~uy 


Commode with Chinese lacquer panels 


Commode with marquetry, by Joseph 


LOUIS XV MARQUETRY CONTRASTED WITH LACQUER 


220 


Signed by Marchand. Lent’ by Laurenee Currie for exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum 


An exceptionally fine piece in the collection of Laurence 
Currie, lent for exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum 


FRENCH ROCOCO MARQUETRY DESK AND LACQUERED COMMODE 


221 


Designed by Oeben and executed by his pupil and successor, Riesener, who signed 
it. Dated 1769. It is a transition piece, well on the way towards Louis XVI - 


LOUIS XV DESK MADE FOR THE KING 


222 


: 
4 
| 


! 


Louis XV commode in Chinese lacquer, with characteristic Rococo mounts 


Louis XVI commode with marble top, in geometrical marquetry, with characteristic Classic mounts 
LOUIS XV CONTRASTED WITH LOUIS XVI 


223 


AEE: 


eee 


a) 


[PMB 


Louis XVI table with marquetry, ormolu, and Sevres plaques in the Victoria and Albert Museum 
LOUIS XV CONTRASTED WITH LOUIS XVI 


224, 


966 


IAX SINOT HLIM GHLSVULNOO AX SINOT 


auuopq Aq ‘“nfouo pue <Aajenb 


umMasnft Maq~y pue RIMOpPTA IY} UT ‘satagg Jo sje 
umMnosnf Peqry pPue BIAOPTA BY} UL ‘Too}S AX soy -1RUL UL a[qe} YOM S.Ape] AX smMoT 


-ued yyIM npowso pue Aqenbivu ur neaing TAX SMmoT 


Marquetry commodes, Louis XV by Caffieri, above; Louis XVI, below 


LOUIS XV CONTRASTED WITH LOUIS XVI 


226 


Louis XV cabinet for coins, designed by Schlodtz and dated 
1739, in the Bibliothéque Nationale. Rococo at its height 


Louis XVI desk made by Riesener for the King of Poland. Just past the line that 
separates the Classic style of Louis XVI from the Rococo style of Louis XV 


LOUIS XV CONTRASTED WITH LOUIS XVI 


227 


tte; bed room below 


e with bust of Marie Antoine 


abov 


ir 


Boudo 


I FURNITURE IN THE PETIT TRIANON 


T 
/ 


x 


LOUIS 


228 


Lav FO WOHASOW NVIITOdGOULAW AHL NI WYOMGOOM IAX SINOT 


uvsiop JuodIoIg “f JO WIN ‘sluvg ‘uoqanog tnd ¢ ‘ON ye AyTAauIIOZ JUOAZ-doys 


errors 


ioe RaW eRe 


AT oo ee 


inette 


Anto 


arie 


of M 


In the boudoir 


EAU 


I ROOM AT FONTAINEBL 


LOUIS XV 


230 


nos 
See 


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ses daeaee 


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XVI INTERIOR 


LOUIS 


ts 


/~ 


On the left, chair upholstered in Beauvais 
tapestry, in the Victoria and Albert Museum 


Mantelpiece in boudoir of Mme. de Sérilly 


LOUIS XVI FURNITURE 


232 


In acacia wood with bronze mounts and without marquetry 


Mahogany desk said to have been given by Louis XVI to Count Marnesia, 
who arranged the royal flight to Varennes. From the Lowengard Collection 


LOUIS XVI DESKS BY RIESENER 


933 


Here is shown open, the desk that on the opposite page is closed. It is a masterpiece of ingenuity . 
LOUIS XVI CYLINDER DESK, OPEN 


34 


Century cabinetwork, bearing the royal arms of 


A magnificent specimen of French HKighteenth 
5 % ~ . o . 
presented by Jacques Seligmann of Paris 


France. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
LOUIS XVI CYLINDER DESK, CLOSED 


235 


i APA Ns be Bel 


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connor meni cnet 


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with gilt bronze mounts, by M 


’ 


In acacia wood 


RE 


LOUIS XVI TALL CLOCK IN THE LOUV 


236 


YANASHIU NVA Ad HLOG “MSHd GNV WIAVL IAX SINOT 


uajyH pue stivqg jo surjted sanqord ‘saameap appr pue 


pus ur sonbeyd sataag ‘artgityynoy 0} paynqiayje s}unour [ejapy aITWOY YT, OF peyNqrizje sjuNOUL [eI 


tye : e i E # : 


3 eases aT AOGARPS CANS tis. pisititisisel 
ose sa UEP VEY GIN HEICVEO Ta S TACT NTU 


baw 


pees CR PRR OAL ERENT 


Commode in the dining room 


PETIT TRIANON 


F THE 


ING ROOM O 


EK DIN 


RNITURE IN TH 


FU 


I 


Vv 


LOUIS 


238 


6&6 


dHNASHIY AG ACOWWOO IAX SINO'I 


: 4 
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s ‘ “a 
é bel 
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i Ba 
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; By 


Table with mahogany tulip-wood and sycamore marquetry Lady’s writing desk of tulip-wood, with colored marquetry 


PACER RAAE 


REN 


Commode with rounded corners by Beneman, about 1786. Exquisite metal- 
work, but otherwise hard and cold compared with the pieces above 


LOUIS XVI FURNITURE OF CONTRASTING TYPES 


240 


ie 
ice 


% 


Be 
ke 
it 

Pe 


Illustrating transition from the style of Louis XV to that of Louis XVI 


XVI by Jacob 


1S 


Full Lou 


ES 


LOUIS XVI SOFAS OF CONTRASTING TYP 


241 


anes ~ y 
se id NE 


Ahi dec tcha sti hen 


2 NOS PR IEE HD BE RR PAO Nt ND Pe re Ree 


In oak and ebony, with lacquer panels. By Weisweiler 


In acacia wood, with bronze mounts 


LOUIS XVI COMMODES 


242 


Made about 1790 for Marie Antoinette whose mono- 
gram appears in the metal ornament on the large panel 


LOUIS XVI COMMODE ATTRIBUTED TO BENEMAN 


243, 


Se aia 


* 
+ 
* 
> 
> 
* 
* 
* 
+ 
* 
. 
’ 
* 


rer eer eer tT TTT cr Tr Teter ores 


Hard and dry Classic, with cameo medallions and bronze frames of monotonous design 
LOUIS XVI COMMODE BY CASPAR SCHNEIDER 


244, 


5 


— 


P°AODIRPRG ORR REELS OREESEERORE DHE EDS ERED: 


© 


ARTA RAL OC EL EAE RESETS OE 


POC CamUMO HWE EOD ees U eH ae, 
eee LLL Lt ht it te ae 


reer ret tere Tet tr on ie 


Sreaere 


2 TLOLEEL EL DLS OLE DO EE 


}) Re acticgepieae ercecaree 


In acacia wood, with bronze mounts simplified to the 
detached small-pattern style of full Louis XVI 


LOUIS XVI COMMODES BY RIESENER 


945 


MMODES BY RUBESTUCK, ABOVE; AND BY RIESENER, BELOW 


XVI CO 


LOUIS 


246 


In the Louvre 


At Fontainebleau 


LOUIS XVI COMMODES BY RIESENER 


247 


(1) (2) 


(3) (4) 
(1), (2), and (3) Upholstered in Beauvais tapestry; (4) in silk 


embroidery. All in the Louvre, except (1) that is at Versailles 


LOUIS XVI CHAIRS BY JACOB 


248 


INN st 


dl BINS ini yrky 
iit we ere 
aa 

nk 


count 


penannanae 


Aan 


MON Pir Per pye.. 


WN WANT We % ‘ 
Tce % Gey 
Pe 
Wet Oe ey, q 
Wa L} iy é 4 


Yd sg 


x 


ERTS PR AR OPA 


? tue % 
sa ty —— a 


In rosewood, with Sevres plaques. 
Weisweiler, with bronze mounts by 


Designed by 
Thomire 


LOUIS XVI CABINET FROM THE WERTHEIMER COLLECTION 


249 


LUBV AY 


BAL 


CPF or re name, 


- rs Tea TATA 
meres tar Hi QranE ATC WarT TR FT H r Sthiicuie 
ID : a is = > Soe 


UNAWARE 
: ba Loo 


OTSA CN AEF EA LAT EA EON EN EAE OOLETLNY SIE NEON ER ES EROREE Stent fA Nedaed wee Sar Ahan Lia | af det E ERE RRREDEB OPA PLL TEPERS BERD FB ERTOITERE 


= 


Lacquer panels by Molitor, with bronze mounts by Thomire 
LOUIS XVI CABINET IN THE LOUVRE 


250 


a 


+), 
we. 


By Martin Carlin, in rosewood, with mounts and Sevres plaques 


LOUIS XVI CABINET IN THE WALLACE COLLECTION 


251 


‘ 
Q 


& Dey 


& 


= 
Rierenerwecesinanenaamstonomensrameneen 


prahesinsonsnnashatormoecolbeled Talc Ne eee en 


JRITING TABLES 


LOUIS XVI W 


252 


SHdAL ONILSVULNOO FO AYNLINUNA TAX SINOT 


ynoqe Japiemstay, Aq ‘a}jeU 


193}U90 3 Aq joued Aayonbsre yl ‘IOTUNCS stssaydnq Aq s}unoul 9ZU01q SLLT : es 
fq ‘at4ys uortsuety ul o}je[fo}-nevoing ya uasyus0y Aq Arvye109¢g -(oWUY IMP FO 9IQe} Suga TPeUS 


ra 


BINA 


yw 


Ar 


we | 


rianon 


787 by Schwerdfeger. In the Petit T 


Antoinette about 1 


Marie 


Made for 


LOUIS XVI JEWEL CABINET 


254 


Empire chair in mahogany and_ tapes- 
try. In the Cooper Union Museum 


Late Empire chair of ma- 
hogany with gilded arms 


Directoire chair in white and gold 


Jimpire bed in the Grand ‘Trianon 
FRENCH DIRECTOIRE AND EMPIRE FURNITURE 


255 


Note the style and importance of the metal mounts 


FRENCH EMPIRE CHAIR AND SIDEBOARD 


256 


EMPIRE CHAIRS IN THE GRAND TRIANON 


258 


Le S: 
* Aik 


che a 


parses. cae 


Made for the Empress Marie Louise. At Fontainebleau 
EMPIRE JEWEL CABINET BY JACOB DESMALTER 


959 


The Green Salon, so-called because of the green upholstery 
EMPIRE FURNITURE IN THE HOTEL BEAUHARNAIS 


260 


s 


L 
| 
J 
i 


L9G 


HNIVLINOWY GNV WHIOWdd AG AYO LINGNA AYIdNa 


Jaquivys JIouno0d dy} UT sareyo oy} ‘MIO0K poq ,ssarduIn, oy} UT uaaaos ay} ‘uosremyey, 3% ITV 


‘ 


q 


re 


¥ 


nANS LROENTENRETE CNET 


aN a 


ih f F 


yay jo unasnyy ueypodosjopy ay} uy ‘s}unow 
njow.1o yyM Auesoyeu ut sseps szstd oarduiy 


696 
SWOUSAW MYUOA MAN NI CUNLINYNA AHIdNa 


WV JO unasnyy ueyodoajayy ey} UT “s}yUNOW njou10 
pue do} a[qrew yt ‘AueSoyewm ut aspourmos suduy . 


— 


wmasnyy uotug, aadoog ur yseq 


CHAPTER IX 


cesta BS 2 RII Ses SSCA 


owt & 
ag stpeB ego 


(as sail ‘aaa 


ware owe esas 
yr 
y 


ieee 


p= 


From the studio apartment of the artists, Bolton and Francis Jones, New York City. The 
upper part of the Spanish Varguefio is antique; the lower section made recently by Bolton, 
assisted by his brother. The Italian reredos is antique, its background the work of Francis 


SPANISH AND ITALIAN FURNITURE HARMONIZED WITH CONSUMMATE SKILL 


264 


CHAPTER IX 


SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, FLEMISH, DUTCH 
AND SWISS FURNITURE 


The centre of Spanish art in the United States is the Hispanic 
Museum, in New York City. The collections not only of Spanish 
books, but also of Spanish furniture and other works of art, are so 
rich as to make it a Mecca for those interested in Ancient Spain. I 
hope it will sometime be possible at the Hispanic Museum to have 
a comprehensive exhibition of ancient Spanish furniture. 

Spanish art and architecture are strikingly different from those 
of France, England and Italy. The result of centuries of Moham- 
medan occupation is everywhere evident. We find there not only 
marvelous Moorish buildings, like the Alhambra, but also strong 
Moorish influence in rugs, leather, iron, furniture, and the other 
minor arts. Indeed, the early supremacy of Spain in illuminated 
leathers, ironwork and pottery was directly due to the Moors. 

Leather and iron were more prominently used in Spanish fur- 
niture than in that of any other Kuropean country. Many of the 
illuminated leather screens are incomparably rich and brilliant. The 
iron used to brace the legs of cabinets and tables, for hinges and locks, 
in the form of pierced metal plaques over velvet, is skilfully worked in 
elaborate designs of the most fascinating character. 

The most distinctive piece of Spanish furniture is the vargueno. 
Like the two-story cabinets or highboys of other countries, it was a 
development from the chest. In the Fifteenth Century, when French 
Gothic influence was still dominant, small chests and cabinets, made 
and used as separate pieces of furniture, were temporarily placed for 
convenience on tables or stands. In the Sixteenth Century, these 
chests and cabinets, with the lid in front and swinging down instead 
of on top and swinging back, began to be attached to the table or 
chest on which they stood. Presently, the interior of the chest or 

265 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


cabinet began to be equipped with drawers, and heavy slides to be 
inserted in the supporting table or chest to carry the lid when opened 
down, which then served as a writing table. 

The ornamentation of these varguefios is often elaborate and 
beautiful. Exquisite inlays decorate the fronts of drawers. The out- 
side of the lid and other flat surfaces carry pierced iron plaques, the 
beauty of which is enhanced by velvet background. 

The supporting tables exalt the art of the carver. With two-legged 
trestles at each end, tied together by elaborate cross stretcher, or 
braced with wrought iron braces rich in the scrolls and details natural 
to ironwork, they are both solid and sumptuous. 

Many of the chairs of the Spanish Renaissance are copies of 
Italian chairs, not only the X chairs of the so-called “Dante” type, 
but also the arm and side chairs with skeletonized straight-line frames. 
The benches and the tables are much less Italian, and often have the 
distinctively Spanish iron braces. 

Why Italian influence was strong in Spain in the Sixteenth 
Century, and why Spanish influence was strong in the Netherlands 
in the same Century, is easily explained. The King of Spain was also 
Emperor, and the Sixteenth Century was Spain’s “Grande Siécle:” 
Charles V, born in Ghent of Flemish-Austrian father and Spanish 
mother, came nearer to being a World Monarch than any Kuropean 
ruler since the days of Ancient Rome. From his father, Philip the 
Handsome, he derived control of the Netherlands; from his mother, 
Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain and America; 
from his grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, the Hapsburg posses- 
sions in Austria and elsewhere. His election as Emperor made him 
the supreme sovereign also of Germany and of Italy. 

Spaniards are justly proud of the glorious record made at the 
end of the Fifteenth Century and beginning of the Sixteenth. In 1492 
not only did Columbus under the patronage of Isabella discover 
America, but the last vestige of Moorish power was eliminated from 
Spain, the conquest of Granada being effected by the troops of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, just five centuries after the Cid had become a 
Spanish national hero by his conquest from the Moors of 'Toledo and 
Valencia. What is said to be the Cid’s treasure chest on which, though 
filled with stones and sand, he borrowed money for one of his cam- 
paigns, as told in the famous old Spanish poem—hangs high on one of 
the walls of Burgos Cathedral. 

266 


SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, FLEMISH, DUTCH 


In 1525 Spain humbled the pride of France at the Battle of 
Pavia, the Imperial troops of Charles V defeated the French and took 
prisoner the French King, Francis I, who is then said to have sent 
the famous message to his mother: “All is lost save honor,’’ where- 
upon he was escorted ingloriously to captivity in Madrid. 

It was during the reign in the Netherlands of Charles V, and of 
his parents, Philip the Handsome and Joanna the Mad, that the 
Spanish royal family acquired the splendid Gothic and Karly Renais- 
sance tapestries that made the Spanish Royal Collection by far the 
finest in the world. The Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain, estab- 
lished in the Netherlands early in the Fifteenth Century by Philip 
the Good, Duke of Burgundy, is another surviving testimonial to the 
Burgundian ancestry of the Spanish throne. 

Just as much furniture commonly classified as Italian Renais- 
sance was made in the first half of the Seventeenth Century, so much 
furniture commonly classified as Spanish Renaissance dates from the 
same period, and shows Baroque influence. The backs of chairs begin 
to slant more towards the rear, and the turning and the carving are 
more full of movement, with stronger sculptural contrasts. 

After the middle of the Seventeenth Century, French influence 
became again dominant in Spain. Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis 
XVI chairs and other furniture were copied, with important varia- 
tions due to inherited traditions. Like English and Italian Eight- 
eenth Century chairs, those of Spain tend to be ten or fifteen years 
later in style than those of France, retaining stretchers and high backs 
longer than they were retained in France. The Rococo forms, espe- 
cially of cabriole legs, are uniformly heavier and more Baroque. 

Much of the Spanish painted and lacquered furniture of the 
EKighteenth Century resembles Italian painted and lacquered furniture 
of the same period, and is more apt to be interesting than beautiful. 

Portuguese Eighteenth Century furniture is also largely a pro- 
vincial form of French, with even more peculiarities than those of 
Spanish furniture and with the Oriental influence stronger. 

Interesting for comparison with Spanish furniture is the furni- 
ture of Latin Colonial America. We illustrate pieces from Guatemala 
and Ecuador, in the styles of various periods. Unimportant in itself 
and seldom beautiful, the workmanship is often excellent, and the 
inlay and carving by no means despicable. 'The Mexican portable 
writing cabinet, in gilt and tooled leather, is exquisite. The Brazilian 

267 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


brass-inlaid portable desk and shaving case is far superior to most 
furniture of Empire inspiration. 

These Spanish-American forms are also interesting to compare 
with those that gave birth to American Mission, illustrated near the 
end of this volume. 

Flemish and Dutch Renaissance furniture shows strong Italian, 
Spanish, and German influence. It is vastly inferior to Italian Renais- 
sance and French Renaissance furniture, and while apt, like Eliza- 
bethan, to indulge in exaggerations, it seems to have less unity of 
composition and feeling. Many of the cabinets are monumental in 
size and appallingly architectural. Towards the end of the century 
huge ball feet were common, such as also disfigure German furniture 
of the same period. Some of the most extreme examples of Baroque 
ever perpetrated are due to the Netherlands. 

The ugliness of much French Louis XIII furniture is due to 
Flemish influence. Both Flanders and Holland in the Seventeenth 
Century were comparatively prosperous, and in the first half of the 
century the fame of the Flemish painter, Rubens, helped make 
Flemish-Italian Baroque dominant not only in painting but also in 
the other arts. 

Our illustrations showing furniture in Dutch paintings empha- 
size the fondness of the Dutch for heavy spindle forms, turned on a 
lathe. They also give a good idea of how Dutch furniture was in- 
stalled and used. Other illustrations of Dutch furniture show the 
rich floral forms in marquetry copied by the English in the reign of 
William and Mary, and lacquered panels in the Chinese style. 

Because of their extensive Oriental commerce, the Dutch, like 
the Portuguese, felt the Oriental influence earlier than France or 
England. Delft pottery is one of the evidences of this. 

The only Swiss furniture illustrated in this volume is that con- 
tained in the Swiss room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It 
dates from the Seventeenth Century and resembles Flemish and 
German furniture of the same period. It is not beautiful. 


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At left, chair upholstered in red velvet, with embroidered coat-of-arms of a bishop. 
Beautiful upholstery nails. From the collection of the Marquis de Santillana, 


At right, Brazier stand of wrought iron, with bronze ornaments 


At left, chair in red velvet upholstery with metal mounts. Elaborate embroidered panel rich 
with gold, and opulent figures. From collection of Count de las Almenas. 

At right, secretary upholstered in red velvet with gilded nail heads. Drawer fronts in wrought 
silver. From collection of Senor Belda 


SPANISH RENAISSANCE FURNITURE FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS 


269 


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SPANISH RENAISSANCE BENCH AND TABLES 


272 


SLO 


SONHNOUVA FAONVSSIVNAY HSINVdS AAYHL 


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Elaborately carved in the so-called Plateresque style of the Early Spanish Renaissance, 
and bearing the arms of the Lacerdas. From the collection of the Duke de Medinaceli 


ppm 
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At left, chair upholstered in green velvet, from the collection of Don Bernardo Peyronton. 
(Middle) Gothic bookstand of wrought iron, shelf of tooled leather, from the collection 
of Count de Sclafani. At right, scissors chair in the Mudejar style, partly Moorish and 
partly Renaissance 


SPANISH MUDEJAR, GOTHIC AND RENAISSANCE FURNITURE 


274 


i 


At left, trunk of lignum vitae, studded with ornamental 
At right, chair upholstered in tooled leather 


nails, 


SPANISH RENAISSANCE TRUNKS, STAND AND CHAIR 


275 


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At left, walnut screen, elaborately carved. At right, elabo- 
rately carved walnut cabinet, with Seventeenth Century stand 


SPANISH RENAISSANCE CHEST, CHAIR, SCREEN AND CABINET 


276 


Leather upholstered bench in the Madrid Museum 


At left, Seventeenth Century choir stalls in walnut. At 
right, canopied Gothic throne in carved and inlaid walnut 


SPANISH CHOIR STALLS AND BENCH 


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Renaissance chest, Seventeenth Century table and Eight- 
eenth Century cabinet. The cabinet with bone inlay 


SPANISH TABLE, CABINET, AND CHEST 


278 


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279 


Upper left chair in oak with leather seat. The other three chairs 
in walnut. Upper right chair upholstered in embroidered velvet 


FOUR SPANISH SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CHAIRS 


280 


136 
AYUNLNAO HINGHALINAAYS ATYVA AHL AO SYIVHO HSINVdS 


sjvluy [v}eUl pue s[feu paprey-}[ls YIM S1ayjee, poedurejs ut paaaysjoydn sareyo apis saayy, 


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SPANISH CHAIRS OF THE LATE SEVENTEENTH AND EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 


282 


SPANISH CHAIRS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 


283 


Painted and inlaid secretary with gilt iron mounts 


SPANISH SECRETARY OF THE LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 


284, 


$86 


SHdAL ONILSVULNOO HO HHOLINYNA HSINVdS 


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pot 19a0 YAomTeyow ut pepued ysayo o1y}oH (G) ‘azuOIG pUR [JIYS-eST0}10} UT JUSIeUIO YYIM 


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Mirror in vermilion lacquer and gilt. Table 
painted black with polychrome ornament 


Walnut buffet elaborate with marquetry 


SPANISH DESKS, TABLE AND MIRROR OF LATE SEVENTEENTH AND EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 


286 


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186 


AUNLNYO HLINAHINGAAUS AHL dO NAWYOS UAHLVAT GHLVNINOTIL HSINVdS 


wMnasnft POq[Y PUL VILOJTA 24} 0} JaysuTUTjsa A, JO aynq ey} Aq JuaT 


sling 


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luighteenth Century bookcase from Granada, lacquered after the Chinese fashion. 
The chairs are modern, made in New York to stand as shown in the illustration 


SPANISH CHINOISERIE 


288 


Six-legged mahogany bed, with fluted posts, headboard 
painted in polychrome and carved. Late Eighteenth Cen- 
tury contemporary with Louis XVI and with Robert Adam 


SPANISH EIGHTEENTH CENTURY BED 


289 


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2ocoeo chair with claw and ball feet 


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Walnut settee with triple chair back, about 1735 


PORTUGUESE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CHAIRS 


992 


£66 


SHIVNAINAD HINAXLHOIA GNV HINGYLINAAYUS AHL JO SUIVHO ASHOODNLYOd 


Aaaysjoydn asyyeay podmejs pur sis 
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Seventeenth Century chairs from Guatemala. The two on the 
left, upholstered in leather; the one on the right, caned 


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Late Seventeenth Century Ecuadorian inlaid cabinet 


SPANISH AMERICAN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE 


295 


Late Eighteenth Century Guatemalan mahogany settee 


Early Nineteenth Century Guate- 
malar chair in Empire style. 


Kighteenth Century pedes- Eighteenth Century roundabout chair Fighteenth Century Mexi- — 
tal table from Guatemala in cedar and cane from Guatemala can chair, painted and gilt 


SPANISH AMERICAN EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE 


296 


Guatemalan chest on stand, of the Eighteenth Century 


SPANISH AMERICAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE 


297 


Eighteenth Century Guatemalan console table, show- 
ing Mayan influence in the design of the carving 


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Late Seventeenth Century Mexican tooled 
and gilt leather portable writing cabinet 


Early Nineteenth Century Brazil- i 
ian portable desk and shaving case 


; 

Small Guatemalan cabinet of the Late Seventeenth Century 5 

4 

SPANISH AMERICAN SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE 2 


298 F 


666 


AYOINAOD HINGALNAAGDS AHL JO SHIVHO HSINWITA 


peur puke puno.t 
‘AINQUI) YJUI2}UIAIG oye] ay} JO Arey JNUTeA YsTUI[ YT 


yNuyeM UL Areyo SuIpyoy Ainjyus: QyUVIJUVAVIS YSU] Aamyuad YJUsI}JUBAVG 9} JO ATvYO JNUTeM YSTUs, YT 


Richly carved cabinet, with ebony inlay 


FLEMISH CABINET AND PANEL OF THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 


300 


vt 


108 
SGNVTYAHLYUN FHL JO AUNLINYNY 


Ainqusy YUse}UuAeG ApIee ey} JO paq snboaeg yong aINyoryore yA Jreduer yourqeo onboaeg ysrmeyyy 


WOW 


Seventeenth Century chest upholstered in embroidery 


FURNITURE OF THE NETHERLANDS 


302 


£06 


SGNVTYAHLAN HHL FO SHAOUCUV M 


Aajanbaeul paiopoo paye1oqeya YA aqordpaem Aanjuag Yy}UIe}UesIG Ainqusg yQusezysry aye] ayy Jo sqorprem Auesoye 


Baroque oak cabinet with huge Baroque inlaid walnut cabinet, with broken 
ball feet and ebony appliqués pediment, and rampart carved panels 


Ss ee oS Se 


= BP = 


Massive eabinet, with bulbous feet, pendants, and anti- 
> 
pendants, and extravagantly Baroque carved panels 


RTHERLANDS 


CABINETS OF THE N 


304 


tg 8 


= 


“Musie Lesson” by Vermeer “Woman Reading” by Pieter de Hooch 


“Music Lesson” by Terborch “Girl Sleeping” by Vermeer 


All the paintings date from the middle of the Eighteenth Century, and the furniture is of 
the period. Oriental rugs, chimneypiece, chest, chairs, spinet, picture frames, all harmonize. 
We New Englanders and New Yorkers owe much to the chair in which De Hooch has his 
“Woman Reading” 


FURNITURE OF THE NETHERLANDS IN PAINTINGS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


305 


“Interior with Young Couple,” in the Altman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
Here we see not only spindle chairs, with embroidered upholstery, and a small mirror, but 
also and especially an elaborately overdraped bed of the period, with draw curtains and 
pillows as clearly revealed as this style of painting permits 


{URNITURE OF THE NETHERILANDS AS PAINTED BY PIETER DE HOOCH 


306 


Rococo interior with monumental chimneypiece, characteristic chairs, table, clock, chandelier and sconces 


FURNITURE OF THE NETHERLANDS AS PAINTED BY CORNELIUS TROOST 


307 


Oak table with marquetry florals, Karly Eighteenth Century 


Rococo table, middle of the Eighteenth Century 
TABLES OF THE NETHERLANDS 


308 


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NETHERLANDISH EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PAINTED CORNER CABINET 


309 


| 


Late Rococo wardrobe with interesting hardware Empire secretary, fire-gilt mounts, Early Nineteenth Century) ~ 
FURNITURE OF THE NETHERLANDS 7 
310 


Ils 


HAOLINYNaA SSIMS 


Ainyuag Y}JUsa}UaAVG ay} JO aanqtuang ss 
4 bs) I emer | 


MG ‘}1V JO wNssnyYy uepodoajay_y oy} UT 


CHAPTER X 


Installed at Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, about 1580 by Dame 
Alice Strickland-Boynton. Now in the Victoria and Albert Museum 


ENGLISH ELIZABETHAN INLAID WOODWORK 


314 


CHAPTER X 
ENGLISH TUDOR AND STUART FURNITURE 


E\LIZABETHAN, JACOBEAN, CHARLES II, 
WILLIAM AND Mary, QUEEN ANNE 


While English furniture is inferior to that of the Italian Renais- 
sance and of France, in purity of design and perfection of rhythm, 
its catholicity of motif and excellence of workmanship give it a large 
interest and a wide appeal especially to us Americans who have direct- 
ly inherited so much of our furniture from England. 

English furniture of all periods trails that of continental Kurope; 
in the Sixteenth Century and first half of the Seventeenth, that of 
the Italian Renaissance; since then, that of France. But the copyings 
and adaptations have always been sufficiently dominated by English 
traditions to create distinctive English types. 

Just as French Renaissance furniture, because of the French- 
Gothic tradition and spirit, differs from Italian Renaissance furniture, 
so the furniture of the English Renaissance of the Sixteenth Century 
differs from both French and Italian because of its inheritance of 
English Gothic. Indeed, during the first half of the Sixteenth Cen- 
tury, furniture in England remained almost entirely Gothic, and the 
few works of art executed in the Italian style were executed by Ital- 
ian artists and artisans. But during the Elizabethan period (1558- 
1603) English architects and English artisans began to work in 
the Italian style, and hundreds of splendid country houses were 
built and furnished in the Italian manner, as then understood by 
Englishmen. 

Elizabethan furniture is definitely Renaissance furniture, but 
Renaissance furniture differing widely from the Italian originals. 
In Italy it was easy to develop interesting forms on the basis of the 
concrete examples there everywhere found. But in England it was 
necessary to work largely from sketches and drawings and prints 

315 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


and from Flemish and German, and Italian and French books. 

Paper architecture and paper furniture, meaning furniture in- 
spired by pictures rather than by originals, is apt to exaggerate. The 
finest part of furniture and architecture is the part that the pencil 
and the camera cannot fix. Furthermore, the Gothic tradition, with 
its wealth of splendid carving, made the Italian forms seem tame to 
Englishmen of the Sixteenth Century. Consequently, Elizabethan 
furniture, as compared with Italian Renaissance furniture, is full of 
exaggerations. 

Take, for instance, the huge bulbs that dominate the legs and 
posts of Elizabethan cupboards and tables, and beds. We find similar 
extravagances in Dutch and German furniture, and to a less extent, 
in some French Renaissance furniture. But it is only when we study 
the Flemish and German books illustrating Italian Renaissance fur- 
niture that we are able to understand how such extravagant inter- 
pretations were possible. 

The Elizabethan style is not a simple style. It is a style for show, 
rather than for comfort. Elizabethan mansions were planned for the 
purpose of displaying to the world the wealth and culture of the 
landed proprietors of England. Nevertheless, of all the English 
styles it is, in many respects, the most interesting. Like Elizabethan 
literature, it is so full of affectations as to seem natural, because 
frankly admitting them. Like Shakespeare, it borrows materials 
from every available source, transforming them into vivid and spirited 
works of art. 

Important to note is the fact that Elizabethan mansions were not 
fortified castles, but peaceful residences. The settled conditions of 
life during the reign of Henry VIII had rendered fortification no 
longer necessary, and the suppression of the monasteries had turned 
all the building resources of the kingdom into the creation of homes 
for noble families. So that on domestic architecture was now spent 
the money that previously had gone to build churches and convents. 

The furniture of Elizabethan mansions was comparatively scanty. 
One or two huge four-poster beds having bulbous posts overlaid with 
‘arved strap-work; several large rectangular tables with bulbous 
strap-work legs tied together by stretchers; one or two cupboards of 
the type familiar to us all; numerous small tables; high, flat sereens 
with leaves painted or tapestry-covered; and chests galore, of which 
many were richly carved; stools and benches. 

316 


ENGLISH TUDOR AND STUART 


Besides carving, inlay was frequently called upon to help make 
furniture beautiful; not thin inlay of the veneer type, but pieces of 
olive and other light colored woods, set into channels excavated in the 
solid oak. 

Perhaps I should here explain the difference between intarsia, 
inlay and marquetry. I will begin by saying that the difference is 
principally geographical; inlay being in England what in Italy is 
intarsia, and in France is marquetry. But I will end by explaining 
that marquetry refers primarily to the thin figured veneers made 
famous in France in the Eighteenth Century; intarsia, to the Italian 
inlays of the Renaissance, and before; and inlay, to marquetry of the 
Elizabethan type. 

English furniture styles are apt to be confusing. They are less 
logical than French furniture styles. This is due not only to the con- 
fusion of motifs so common in English furniture, but also to the 
difference between the English and the French mind. 

If you go into a French furniture shop and the French proprie- 
tor shows you an important piece of ancient French furniture, his 
chief anxiety is to show you that the example offered is in every respect 
true to recognized style and tradition. But if you go into an English 
furniture shop, the Englishman is almost sure not only to show you 
examples that are different, but to claim that the differences are 
marks of distinction, and to argue with you that the generally re- 
ceived ideas are wrong. 

Perhaps it is this individualistic point of view which makes so 
many newly rich Americans boast of having had a work of art spe- 
cially designed for them, and the models destroyed after making, so 
that no duplicate could ever be created. 

Be that as it may, English furniture is so illogical that its greatest 
historian, Perey MacQuoid, in his monumental book classifies it, not 
by the reigns of kings, but by the woods of which it is made. The 
classification is a just and proper one, and should always be kept in 
mind when using the lesser terms Jacobean, Charles II, Georgian, 
Adam and others. 

Mr. MacQuoid groups the furniture of England in Four Ages: 

I. The Age of Oak. II. The Age of Walnut. III. The Age 
of Mahogany. IV. The Age of Satinwood. 

All English Gothic, Elizabethan, and Jacobean furniture down 
to 1660, belongs to the Age of Oak. 

317 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 
All later Jacobean (Charles II, and James IL), William and 


Mary, and Queen Anne furniture—in other words, the furniture 
contemporary with French Louis XIV—belongs to the Age of 
Walnut. 

Georgian furniture (1714-1760) belongs to the Age of Mahogany. 

Adam furniture (1760-1792) belongs to the Age of Satinwood. 

This does not mean that.the line was hard and fast between the 
different Ages. Indeed, much furniture was still made of oak in the 
Walnut period; and considerable furniture was made of walnut in 
the early part of the Georgian period. But it does mean that each of 
the Four Ages had its distinctive woods. 

Jacobean is a term commonly applied to English furniture made 
during the reigns of James I (1603-1625), Charles I (1625-1649), 
the Commonwealth (1649-1660), and Charles II (1660-1685), and 
James II (1685-1688). Inasmuch as a great break in style comes 
with the Restoration of Charles II, in 1660, when walnut began to 
take the place of oak, and extravagant Baroque S’s and C’s the place 
of Renaissance straight lines, I prefer to confine the term Jacobean 
to the years 1603-1660, and to speak of the furniture after that period 
as Charles II, using the term Late Jacobean for the oak cupboards 
and chests developed from Earlier Jacobean by the application of half 
spindles and other relief ornament in ebony or oak. 

The relation between Elizabethan furniture and Jacobean furni- 
ture is entirely unlike the relation between Continental Renaissance 
furniture of the Sixteenth Century and Continental Renaissance 
furniture of the first half of the Seventeenth Century. On the Con- 
tinent, at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, Baroque broken 
lines and curves began to take the place of Renaissance straight lines. 
In other words, forms began to be less Classic and to have more move- 
ment. In England, precisely the opposite took place. Jacobean is 
far more Classic than Elizabethan. Ornament, instead of becoming 
more extravagant, became less extravagant. Jacobean as compared 
with Elizabethan is a flat style, a tame style, often, like the style of 
Louis XVI, uninteresting because of its many repeats and lack of 
originality. 

The bulbous legs of tables and cupboards and beds became less 
bulbous. ‘The carved ornament became less obtrusive and at the 
same time less vivid and frequently monotonous. On wood panels, 

. 818 


ENGLISH TUDOR AND STUAR'I 


a tree under a round arch is reiterated pitilessly. Fortunately, the 
general pruning of forms is made up for by increased richness in the 
upholstery. Certainly the splendid X chairs of Italian inspiration at 
Knole, with their rich velvets and fringes, are furniture to be proud 
of. The embroideries of the Jacobean period employed to upholster 
not only chairs and sofas, but also as draperies for four-posters, 
worthily sustain the medieval reputation of England for needlework. 

In 1660, the Age of Oak (the straight line period of English 
furniture) came to an end. It was succeeded by the Age of Walnut, 
which lends itself to the Baroque curves that in oak are apt to split. 

During all of the walnut period, English furniture trailed 
French. The Court of Charles II (1660-1685) was hardly more than 
a dependency of the Court of Louis XIV. Splendid tapestries and 
furniture from the Gobelins adorned the apartments of the fair 
French lady whom Louis XIV employed to keep Charles II inter- 
ested and make sure that he earned the salary paid him by Louis XIV 
for his subservience. Another fair friend of Charles II was the 
Duchess of Mazarin, a niece of the famous Cardinal Mazarin. 

However, most of the furniture that we call Charles II is French- 
Flemish rather than French, that is to say, is more like the furniture 
of Louis XIII, and of Flanders where Charles was long an exile. The 
backs of Charles II chairs are higher than earlier backs and have a 
comfortable slant. Chairs are also frequently upholstered in cane, 
which at this time began also to be much used in France. 

There is no James II style. He did not reign long enough. It 
takes time to develop a style. 

Inasmuch as King William was a Dutchman, it is not strange 
that William and Mary furniture is strongly Dutch. Chairs grew 
even taller than they were under Charles II, and the forms and shapes 
of furniture more Baroque and more unwieldy, with the legs neces- 
sarily tied together by stretchers. Marquetry on case furniture be- 
came usual, at first in designs of Italian origin, later in Dutch tulips 
and other florals, often too vividly colored. 

The distinguishing feature of the turned legs of many William 
and Mary chairs and cabinets, is the inverted cups. It may be said 
in a general way that Dutch forms often show turning where Ilemish 
forms show carving. 

Queen Anne (1702-1714) was the sister of Mary, and the daugh- 
ter of James II. In her reign, French and Dutch influence was less 

319 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


apparent. Queen Anne furniture looks more like that of Louis XIV 
than does most Charles II furniture or William and Mary furniture. 
The backs of chairs are lower than during the preceding reigns, and 
begin commonly to have splats running down the middle to the seat. 
This last is a startling innovation, and one that continues throughout 
the Georgian period until 1760. An interesting grouping of Queen 
Anne furniture is that in her bed room at Hampton Court, all in the 
style of Louis XIV. Lacquer work in the Chinese style, which had 
begun as a fad in the reign of Charles II when young ladies at board- 
ing school learned it as a fashionable accomplishment, largely super- 
seded inlay on case furniture during the reign of Queen Anne. 

The difference between Jacobean and the last half of the Seven- 
teenth Century, is clearly suggested by the architects dominant in 
each. ‘The principal architect of the Jacobean period, during which 
the Italian influence was still dominant, was Inigo Jones, who formed 
himself in Italy on the style of Palladio, not only studying the latter’s 
splendid buildings still to be seen at Vicenza, but also bringing home 
and continuously using Palladio’s famous book on Italian architecture. 

About Sir Christopher Wren, the leading English architect of 
ithe last half of the Seventeenth Century there was nothing Italian. 
He never visited Italy, but he adored France. When he returned 
from Paris in 1665, it was his boast that he brought back with him “all 
France on paper,’ meaning that he had drawings, prints, and books, 
illustrating all the finest French architecture. Upon the accession of 
William and Mary, Wren was commissioned to build at Hampton 
Court.an imitation of the splendor of Versailles. Hampton Court 
Palace is not only a splendid example of the English architecture of 
the period, but it also contains much interesting furniture. Hampton 
Court, fifteen miles southwest of London, is open to the publie daily. 
But, of course, if one wants to study English furniture seriously, the 
best place in the world is the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London. 

In connection with Sir Christopher Wren, I must not forget to 
mention Grinling Gibbon, the greatest of Knglish carvers in wood, 
much of whose brilliant work is illustrated in this volume. The genius 
of Gibbon was such that with his chisel he was constantly creating 
in wood forms which, until actually accomplished, seemed beyond the 
power of the art, and unwise even to attempt. 


Tés 
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Me a 


In the Victoria and Albert Museum. From an old house at Exeter 
ENGLISH ELIZABETHAN WOODWORK 


322 


revere) 


VOIUBTNVY NI MON ‘UHLSVId GNV MUYOMAGOOM HSITONA AIO 


DUR sU *pilojpata *SPMI9U}O wmoiy Wooy 
is t “ t 


Julius Caesar room from Rotherwas, Hereford, England 


OLD ENGLISH WOODWORK AND PLASTER, NOW IN AMERICA 


324 


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Qak stool with carved medallions, 
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


Elizabethan carved and inlaid cupboard, 
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


Elizabethan beds, the one on the right from Sizergh Castle and dated 1568 


ENGLISH SIXTEENTH CENTURY: FURNITURE 


zabethan 


li 


3 
4, 


ith posts less bulbous than in I] 


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lizabethan with char 


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334 


TABLE 


AND 


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JACOBEA 


ENGLISH 


neste ian PISS sci, <I XO > ion 


Showing the applied moldings and half-spindles char- 
acteristic of the last half of the Seventeenth Century 


LATE JACOBEAN FURNITURE 


336 


a i tt a he 


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(4) 
(1), (2). 44) Chippendale; (3) Charles II 


ENGLISH CHAIRS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 


338 5 


656 


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William and Mary 


ENGLISH MARQUETRY OF WILLIAM AND MARY, AND ANNE 


340 


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ENGLISH BAROQUE FURNITURE IN CANE AND WALNUT 


344 


STS 


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Picture frame at Hampton 
GRINLING GIBBON, ENGLAND'S GREATEST WOOD CARVER 


347 


Paes ta Tes 
sR ES UBS ESS a RRS ae 


From the Canfield Collection 


GRINLING GIBBON MIRROR FRAME 


348 


UALSNINISAM WOUA ONITANVd UNId NVIDUOUD 


OGLE Joge Joor}g VB10ay yeaiy ¢ “ON YW poTyeysuy 


CHAPTER XI 
LATER ENGLISH FURNITURE 


EARLY GEORGIAN (GeEorGE I), CHIPPENDALE, ADAM, 
HEPPLEWHITE, SHERATON 


In England, as in France, the Eighteenth Century is the great 
furniture century. In the Eighteenth Century, for the first time there 
began to be furniture for everybody. Ceremonial life was no longer 
emphasized at the expense of home life, and new furniture forms were 
created for every possible use. 

In the Eighteenth Century, English furniture styles continue to 
trail those of France. The period of George I and George II (1714- 
1760) is very properly called the Georgian Rococo period, although I 
shall also refer to the period of George I (1714-1727) as Karly Georgi- 
an, and to the period George II (1727-1760) as the Chippendale 
period. 

In England, as in France, during the Georgian period furniture 
and decoration become Rococo, but architecture remains Classic, 
though simpler and lighter, especially in France, than the Baroque 
architecture of the Seventeenth Century. 

During the Georgian period, English architects fought in vain 
to keep furniture and decorations Classic. William Kent in his effort 
to revive the Italian style of Inigo Jones, designed a little of the best 
and much of the worst furniture ever made. His passion for archi- 
tectural ornament as distinguished from decoration, was such that, 
being asked to design a gown for a great Lady, he adorned the skirt 
with columns of the Five Orders. 

Despite the efforts of Kent, most Early Georgian furniture is a 
natural development from that of Queen Anne. The chairs have 
lower backs, the legs are developed in the direction of Rococo, and 


Mahogany largely takes the place of Walnut. 
351 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Even in the middle of the century, the architects were still fight- 
ing against French and Chinese Rococo. Isaac Ware wrote in his 
book on “Classic Architecture,” published in 1756: 

“Tt is our misfortune to see at this time an unmeaning scrawl of 
C’s inverted, turned and hooked together take the place of Greek and 
Roman elegance, even in our most expensive decorations, ‘This is not 
because the possessor thinks there is, or can be, elegance in such fond, 
weak, ill-jointed and unmeaning figures; it is usually because it is 
French; and fashion commands that whatever is French is to be 
admired as fine.” 


Also, 


“While these French decorations were driving out from the in- - 


side of our homes the ceilings which Burlington and Kent had taught 
us to introduce from Roman temples, and those ornaments of doors 


which a better taste under Inigo Jones had formed upon the models - 


of the best Roman structures, the Gothic seemed to have seized upon 
pavilions, and the Chinese on rooms of pleasure.” 

And later: 

“The French have furnished us with abundance of fanciful deco- 
rations for these purposes (ceilings and panels) little less barbarous 
than the Gothic.” 

But he concludes by recommending a ceiling pattern which the 
illustration shows to. be Louis XV. 


Elsewhere in the same book, Ware laments that “Paper has taken ~ 


the place of sculpture,” by paper meaning wall-paper, and by sculp- 
ture, architectural columns and pilasters and pediments and mold- 
ings in wood or plaster. 

Wall-paper began to be much used in England in the Georgian 
period, and must have aroused Ware’s wrath, not only because it 
displaced wood and plaster, but also because it was largely of Chinese 
origin, while a large proportion of the early French and English wall- 
papers bore designs that were Chinese (more or less) in character, 
or Chinese and Rococo mixed. 

The introduction of wall-paper and the elimination of heavy in- 


terior architectural and sculptural forms in wood and plaster natural-_ 


ly demanded chairs and furniture of an entirely new type. 

Chippendale was the furniture genius who responded best to this 
demand. In my judgment, Chippendale is the greatest maker of 
- chairs who ever lived. He developed the art of making chairs to its 
352 


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by 
yi, 
— 
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LATER ENGLISH 


highest point. He surpassed not only those who came before him, 
but those who came after. His equal has not yet appeared. 

Chippendale understood the art of construction. His chairs 
stand square upon their four legs. The backs resist all efforts to 
wrench them apart. ‘The heaviest man can lean against them safely. 
Chippendale chairs are beautiful. ‘The lines that make them strong 
are graceful lines. ‘The composition of legs and arms and back is 
admirable. Merely as design they delight the eye. 

Chippendale was the master of Mahogany. He carved it and 
pierced it sympathetically. Every line of his ornament grows natur- 
ally out of this dark, tough wood. 

Chippendale was no purist. Like Shakespeare, he assimilated 
from every source. Dutch and Rococo, Chinese and Gothic, were all 
alike to him, and he often mixed together two or more of them. 

The legs of Chippendale chairs are of two types, curved and 
straight. The curved legs are Rococo $’s, but like all English Rococo, 
apt to be heavier than French Rococo of the same period and often, 
like many earlier English chairs, with claw and ball feet. These claw 
and ball feet though often said to show the claw of the Chinese dragon 
clutching the Pearl of Wisdom, really show eagle claw or lion paw 
clutching the globe of the world, and are of Classic origin. 

The straight legs of Chippendale chairs are Chinese in origin, 
derived from the straight legs found in so many Chinese chairs. Often 
the origin of these straight legs is obvious, because of the carving in 
the Chinese style. 

When Chippendale published the first edition of his celebrated 
book of furniture designs, “The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s 
Director,” in 1754, his reputation was already established. He felt 
himself a leader, and was confident that “Every design in the book can 
be improved both as to Beauty and Enrichment, in the execution of it, 
by Their most obedient servant, THOMAS CHIPPENDALKE.” 

Only a small percentage of furniture properly called Chippen- 
dale was made in Chippendale’s shop. Other cabinetmakers copied 
his designs with his approbation and encouragement. This is shown 
by the list of subscribers to his book, a large proportion of whom were 
his business rivals. 

The Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries in England 
saw a great development of highboys and other two-storied furniture. 
Chests of drawers and cabinets and bookcases with folding doors, 

353 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


were superposed upon tables and other chests of drawers built espe- 
cially to carry them. 

Chippendale commodes assume various forms and shapes, and 
are often adorned with Chinese fretwork. It is the fashion today to 
call almost any furniture decorated with Chinese fretwork, Chinese 
Chippendale. 

Other Chippendale commodes were copied obviously. from French 
originals, though utterly unlike them except in general contour. They 
not only lack the delicate marquetry, but also the exquisite ormolu 
mounts, the place of which is taken by carved ornament in wood. 
Also, being made of mahogany, they are darker than any of the 
French commodes, except some of those lacquered in the Chinese style. 

It is not easy to confuse French furniture of the Louis XIV and 
Louis XV periods with English furniture of similar inspiration. This 
is especially true of the chairs. All four legs of the French chairs are 
alike and equally well finished. The hind legs of the English chairs 
are skimped and slant back towards each other. 

English furniture of these periods also shows more natural wood, 
and less marquetry and less gilding. The contrast in this respect 
between Chippendale chairs and commodes and Louis XV chairs and 
commodes is extreme. 


THE ADAM PERIOD 


The period 1760-1792 is properly called the Adam Period, 
because during those years the influence of the great English architect, 
Robert Adam, was dominant, not only in architecture, but also in 
decoration and furniture. This is the period contemporary with the 
Classic Revival of Louis XVI of France, but, owing largely to the 
individuality of Adam, the influence of English furniture of this 
period upon French was considerable. Although one French writer 
has suggested that Adam copied from Directoire, this would hardly 
seem probable as Adam died before Directoire began. 

Robert Adam was better equipped than anyone else in Kurope 
to lead a Classic Revival. He knew more about ancient Roman archi- 
tecture and decoration than anyone else, except possibly the great 
Italian, Piranesi. In England he had the opportunity for architec- 
tural and decorative creation which was lacking in Italy in the Kight- 
eenth Century. He spent three years in France and Italy, studying 
_ ancient Roman remains, and made many splendid drawings, many of 
354 


LATER ENGLISH 


which are in the famous Soane Collection in London. He even crossed 
the Adriatic in order to get first-hand knowledge of Diocletian’s 
Palace at Spalato in Dalmatia, and after his return to London pub- 
lished a beautiful and elaborately illustrated book on the subject. 

Of furniture designed by Robert Adam, there is much to be found 
in the monumental book published by himself and his brother on the 
work of their firm. Considerable furniture made after his designs has 
also come down to us and is preserved in various collections. But 
more important than the furniture he designed himself, is the furni- 
ture designed and made by different cabinetmakers under his direc- 
tion or influence, notably by Hepplewhite. 

Even Chippendale made furniture after the designs of Robert 
Adam, some of which is still preserved at Osterly and Harewood. 
Horace Walpole, after visiting Osterly in 1773, wrote: 

“On Friday we went to see—oh! the place of places! ; 
such expense! such taste! such profusion! There is a hall, library, 
breakfast room, eating room, all chefs d’oeuvre of Adam 
The chairs are taken from antique lyres and make a charming: har- 
mony.” 

The Adam Period is not only a Classic Period, and a straight- 
line period as contrasted with the Rococo curves of the preceding 
period, but it is also a period in which marquetry and delicately 
painted ornament supplanted carving. It is called the Age of Satin- 
wood, because of the common use of satinwood veneers. ‘The earlier 
inlays of the Adam Period were on a large scale—Classical heads, 
human figures, broken columns, and vases. As the style progressed, 
the inlays became delicate, consisting principally of thin honey-suckle 
ornament and foliated scrolls, and above all else, fanleaved discs and 
ovals. 

Between Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture there is great 
difference. Hepplewhite forms still show many curves, warmed with 
the spirit of Rococo, but tamed to Classic balance. The furniture of 
Sheraton, on the other hand, is hard, and dry, and spindly, like late 
Louis XVI and Directoire. 

The difference may be attributed partly to the superior taste of 
Hepplewhite, and partly to the earlier period at which he worked. 
Hepplewhite died in 1786, and his book was published in 1788, by his 
widow. Sheraton did not arrive in London until 1790, and his first 
book was published in 1791. 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Moreover, the fame of Chippendale and Hepplewhite rests less 
on their books than on what they actually made in their shops. ‘The 
fame of Sheraton depends on what he taught others to do. ‘There is 
no evidence to show that Sheraton ever had a shop in London. His 
business was making books and selling designs. 

Compared with Georgian Rococo furniture, the furniture of the 
Adam period is light in color, slender and delicate, harmonizing with 
the gentle architectural backgrounds of the Classic Revival. During 
the first half of the Eighteenth Century English furniture and espe- 
cially English interior architecture were much heavier and had much 
more carved ornament than French furniture and interior architecture. 
During the last half of the Kighteenth Century the opposite was true. 
English furniture and architecture under the leadership of Robert 
Adam became lighter, flatter and slenderer than French. Adam 
openly declared in his “Works in Architecture,” that private residences 
had been groaning long enough under the weight of ceilings copied in 
the Sixteenth Century from Roman temples and public buildings. 
He proposed to reintroduce scale, and in the execution of domestic 
interiors, to study ancient Roman domestic examples. Hence, the 
lightness and slenderness of Adam interiors as contrasted with these 
of William Kent and Inigo Jones. Hence, the comparative triviality 
of Adam pediments and tabernacles, and the Adam compo ornament 
that compared with Jacobean molded plaster ceilings is hardly visible. 
No wonder that English architects of Palladian inspiration still call 
Adam “weak”’. 


— 


Above, Early Georgian. Below, Chippendale 


EARLY GEORGIAN CONTRASTED WITH CHIPPENDALE 


357 


sss 


SUMMVUG AO SLSHHO AUYNINGO HINGALHOM HSPIONa 


From the Canfield Collection 


ENGLISH CHINESE CHIPPENDALE 


359 


(1) and (3) From the Canfield Collection 


ENGLISH CHINESE CHIPPENDALE 


= 
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1 THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS DD 


361 


(1) Ancient Chippendale chest of drawers on_ richly 
‘arved stand. (2) Modern American bed inspired by (1) 


ANCIENT AND MODERN CHIPPENDALE FURNITURE 


362 


In the residence of the late Henry P. Davison, New York 


BOOKCASE 


MAHOGANY 


CHIPPENDALE CARVED 


363 


Tables rich in Chinese Rococo 


CHIPPENDALE DRAWINGS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


364 


Lambrequin 


Overmantel mirrors 


Mirror frames 


CHIPPENDALE DRAWINGS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


365 


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Serr, 


Chippendale Rococo commode, from the Canfield Collection 
CHIPPENDALE ROCOCO CONTRASTED WITH ADAM CLASSIC 


366 


LOE 


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Adoues y}IM Yyonod 0200044 oIyjOoH pue asaulyD ‘od0007 UL adardAouuUIYD asad AQuUTIYD [RATADY OISSeTO 


David Garrick’s bed with embroidered hangings of the period. From his villa 
to) be 


at Hampton. Presented by W. K. Trevor to the Victoria and Albert Museum 


FAMOUS ENGLISH FOURPOSTER OF THE ADAM PERIOD 


368 


696 


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Daybed in the style of Adam, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


Table in the style of Chippendale 


ENGLISH CHIPPENDALE CONTRASTED WITH ADAM 


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In the residence of the Earl of Derby, London, Painted panels by Angelica Kauffman 


ENGLISH ADAM COMMODE 


371 


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From his “Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer’s Guide” 
HEPPLEWHITE FURNITURE DESIGNS 


372 


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Empire Style, about 1820 


Empire Style, about 1805 


ENGLISH CHIPPENDALE, ADAM, AND EMPIRE MIRRORS 


374 


White enameled mantel mirror, with egg cornice, group pilasters, about 1785 


ENGLISH CLASSIC REVIVAL MIRRORS 


375 


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NGLISH SHERATON SIDEBOARDS 


379 


Italian Early Nineteenth Century English Georgian, about 1745 


American Empire Dutch Empire 
SMALL TABLES OF CONTRASTING STYLES 


380 


ER RES OEE ARETE St, OS BARE AREER ce ak en a ER NES 


In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
ENGLISH LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DESK 


381 


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From the Eighteenth and Late Seventeenth Centuries. 
In the collections of the Misses Harriet and Claudia Darrell 


ANCIENT ENGLISH CEDAR FURNITURE, MADE IN BERMUDA 


383 


ca cca Ni a a tl ee a Bea ee 


Late Seventeenth Centuries. 
Harriet and Claudia Darrell 


the Highteenth and 
In the collections of the Misses 


rom 


. 


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ANCIENT ENGLISH CEDAR FURNITURE, MADE IN BERMUDA 
384 


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AMERICAN COLONIAL 


386 


CHAPTER XII 
AMERICAN COLONIAL FURNITURE 


When asked to define Colonial, I always like to say that, “Just 
as Colonial is a mixture of all styles, so Mission is the absence of any,” 
thus killing two birds with one stone. While this epigram, like most 
epigrams, is an exaggeration, it contains so much truth that it is im- 
mensely helpful in the effort to understand what American Colonial 
really is. 

While I frankly admit that the term Colonial should have been 
confined to furniture made or used in America by European colonists 
before 1776, common usage inclines me to continue to include under 
the title Colonial, furniture made in America as late as 1840. The 
greater part of this furniture is of English inheritance, with the Dutch 
inheritance strong in New York before the American Revolution, the 
German, inheritance strong in Pennsylvania, and the French inher- 
itance strong in Louisiana. 

Inasmuch as the English inheritance was itself a mixed one (see 
Chapters X and XI), it is clear that American Colonial if not a mix- 
ture of all styles, is at least a mixture of many. Furthermore, the 
close connection of the Atlantic Coast and especially of New England, 
with all parts of the world by sea, introduced Chinese and other forms 
directly. 

However, the backbone of American Colonial of all periods is 
English. The principal styles with which we have to deal in the study 
of American Colonial are Jacobean, William and Mary, Queen Anne, 
Karly Georgian, Chippendale, Sheraton, and English and French 
Empire. While the Adam influence was strong in architecture, little 
Adam or Hepplewhite furniture was imported or made. 

American Colonial furniture as compared with the English orig- 
inals was provincial and apt to be made in an inferior manner. But 

387 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


the best pieces, made here by immigrant English cabinetmakers, are 
difficult and sometimes impossible to distinguish from the English 
originals. As a rule, however, the cabinetmakers who emigrated from 
England, were not the best and most successful cabinetmakers, and 
the apprentices trained here seldom acquired the skill of their masters. 
Not only are the shapes inferior, even when copied directly from 
English examples, but inferior woods are often used. 

The use of different woods was not always a disadvantage. Many 
of the highboys and lowboys in maple are of sufficient excellence to 
bear comparison with the most interesting examples made in ma- 
hogany and other woods abroad. 

Evidently, much of the English furniture brought to America 
came from provincial England rather than from London, and I have 
found it very interesting to compare various pieces of English provin- 
cial furniture with American Colonial of similar inspiration. 

In the splendid collection of Colonial furniture at the Metropol- 
itan Museum of Art, much of which was given by Mrs. Russell Sage, 
it is possible to make a comparativestudy of American furniture forms. 

One of the most interesting developments is that of case furniture, 
from the chests used primarily as trunks by the early colonists of the 
Seventeenth Century, to the beautifully constructed and finished high- 
boys and lowboys in mahogany, made by William Savery of Phila- 
delphia, in the third quarter of the Eighteenth Century. 

We begin with the rough Jacobean chests which constituted 
most of the furniture brought over before 1650. Many of them are 


mere boxes with a lid, with little carving. Others have ball feet and — 


simple scratch carving or Jacobean trees and arches of the simpler 
type. 

Next we see the chests with a drawer at the bottom. ‘Then, chests 
with two drawers at the bottom. Then, chests of drawers, without a 
lid. ‘Then, two-story furniture, chests on chests, or cabinets with 
swinging doors on tables or chests and made as part of them though 
easily separable. 

Side by side with the Jacobean chests, we see Jacobean cupboards 
with applied half spindles and other moldings, sometimes in ebony, 
or wood colored to look like ebony. 

The most interesting early examples of American-made highboys 
are in the style of William and Mary, with turned legs carrying in- 
verted cups, and with sinuous stretchers holding the lower part of the 

388 


AMERICAN COLONIAL 


structure together. Instead of the elaborate marquetry often found 
in England at this period, we are apt to have burl walnut veneers, 
dark and rather muddy, but interesting. 

Much of this William and Mary furniture was made in America 
after the style of Queen Anne had already become ascendant in Eng- 
land. Indeed, it may be said of American Colonial furniture generally 
that the styles tend to trail ten or fifteen years behind the correspond- 
ing English styles. 

During the Eighteenth Century, the quality of American cabinet 
work constantly improved. Many of the Chippendale models are 
really splendid examples of the furniture maker’s art. But it is 
significant, that the best pieces in most collections of American Colo- 
nial furniture, are apt to be pieces made in England. For instance, 
in the noteworthy Pendleton Collection in Providence. 

Until the beginning of the Twentieth Century, collections of 
American Colonial furniture were apt to be assembled and displayed 
unintelligently. Rooms furnished in the Colonial style were filled 
with junk of all periods, bewildering to the beholder and not calculat- 
ed to develop appreciation of the beautiful. There was seldom suffi- 
cient knowledge of English styles to classify types correctly, and it 
was taken for granted that all kinds of American Colonial went to- 
gether. 

Today, the contrary is true. American homes contain many 
Colonial interiors, some with ancient, some with modern furniture, 
which are worthy reproductions of our ancestral environment. While 
some of these interiors are definitely English in plan and execution, 
others have deliberately developed the qualities that distinguish 
American Colonial. 

Books that have greatly assisted to this progress in matters of 
style, are those by Luke Vincent Lockwood on “Colonial Furniture,” 
as well as an earlier book on “Colonial Furniture of New England,” 
by Irving Whithall Lyon. <A great impulse was also given by the 
Hudson-Fulton Loan Exhibition of American Furniture, at the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1909. More recent books are Wal- 
lace Nutting’s “Furniture of the Pilgrim Century” (1620-1720), and 
Fiske Kimball’s “Domestic Architecture of the American Colonials 
and of the Karly Republic.” Mr. Kimball’s accurate scholarship has 
arranged and dated for us facts indispensable in the proper back- 
grounding of American furniture. 

389 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Another splendid inspiration to proper appreciation of what our 
ancestors accomplished was the Loan Exhibition of Duncan Phyfe 
Furniture, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, last year. More than 
one hundred pieces of furniture from the workshop of the New York 
cabinetmaker, Duncan Phyfe, were shown, limited to Phyfe’s best 
period which was before 1825. This was the most important group 
of early furniture by a single American cabinetmaker ever assembled. 
The brief descriptive catalogue published in the Museum Bulletin, 
was admirably supplemented by Charles Over Cornelius with his 
book entitled, “Furniture Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe.” 

Born in Scotland, Duncan Phyfe came with his parents to Amer- 
ica in 1783 or 1784. The family settled in Albany, where Duncan 
then sixteen years of age, worked at the cabinetmaker’s trade. Early 
in the 1790’s he came to New York, and finally set up his shop, in 
1795, in Partition Street (now Fulton Street), where he stayed for 
the rest of his days. Aided by the patronage of the Astors and other 
leading New York families, which was due to the high quality of his 
design and workmanship, his reputation grew apace and orders came 
from as far as Philadelphia. 

The best of Phyfe’s furniture is far more interesting than most 
of that illustrated in the books of Sheraton. Made of mahogany, and 
inspired by English and French furniture of the period, it has many 
of the charms of French Directoire, but greater warmth. The legs of 
chairs and tables and sofas are largely Greek or late Louis XVI, 
with many flutings that accentuate the Classic spirit. 

Phyfe seems to have come nearer to having a style of his own 
than any other early American cabinetmaker. He is the only one 
to whom a large group of furniture can be attributed on documentary 
grounds. 


_ 
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Oak chest of drawers, about 1690 


Connecticut sunflower chest 


AMERICAN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CHESTS 


391 


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Pine work table 


Four-gate with drawer for silver Butterfly gate-leg 
AMERICAN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY TABLES 


392 


In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
AMERICAN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY OAK CHEST 


393, 


Simple and low, but of prime importance as a decorative document. Unpainted 
pine paneling with fireplace and cupboard from a house in Coventry, Conn, About 1730 


In carved pine, with slight metal - 
mounts, made late in the century 


AMERICAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM SOR 


wh ii re os aaa eS Lacs 


394 § ¥ 


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Simple Early American Colonial woodwork assembled in a Massachusetts house 


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Ornate Eighteenth Century woodwork from the Howlett homestead, 
Woodbury, Long Island, preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


AMERICAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COLONIAL WOODWORK 


395 


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(7) By Duncan Phyfe (8) By Duncan Phyfe (9) By Dunean Phyfe 


All in the Metropolitan Museum of Art except (3), (7), (8) 
EARLY AMERICAN CHAIRS 


400 


Made in the Late Seventeenth and Early HKighteenth Centuries 


EARLY AMERICAN CHAIRS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


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EARLY AMERICAN CHAIRS 


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DETAILS OF ROCOCO MAHOGANY FURNITURE BY WILLIAM SAVERY OF PHILADELPHIA 


4.04. 


Made probably in Philadelphia between 1760 
and 1775. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art 


AMERICAN CHIPPENDALE TABLES IN MAHOGANY AND MARBLE 


405 


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Simple but charming, in the manner of Sheraton 


ANCIENT AMERICAN SHERATON AND EMPIRE FURNITURE 


41 


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Three standard table, by Duncan Phyfe 
AMERICAN PHYFE AND HEWITT FURNITURE 


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MODERN FRENCH FURNITURE BY GALLEREY 


422 


CHAPTER XIII 
MODERN EUROPEAN FURNITURE 


FRENCH, ENGLISH, GERMAN, AUSTRIAN 


The Nineteenth Century was emphatically a period of Bad Taste. 
For nearly one hundred years the ideals of Art went wrong. The 
French Revolution had destroyed esthetic traditions and standards 
necessary for appreciation as well as for creation. 

The Nineteenth Century was emphatically a period of Humbug. 
Barnum understood not only the American public but also the Kuro- 
pean public. Simplicity was the shibboleth, but Paradox was the 
Golden Calf. Art was even valued in proportion to the fidelity with 
which it impressed the ignorant observer as copying Nature. 

Unduly the picture arts were exalted at the expense of the dec- 
orative arts, being gloried as “fine” while the latter were depreciated 
as “industrial”. A poor portrait, or a bad landscape, or a Rogers 
group, was preferred infinitely to rhythmic architecture, or beautiful 
furniture, or exquisite textiles. Kven tapestries were patronized as 
the “poor relations” of painted canvas. — 

The sense of texture largely disappeared. Relief and color were 
accepted as all, or almost all, of Art. Pictures and sculpture were 
worshipped as something divine, bearing the same relation to reality 
as Plato’s ideal forms to real forms. 

Art was largely divorced from everyday life. It was held to be 
something reserved for the comprehension of a chosen few, jealously 
to be guarded from the multitude and above all from commercialism. 
In proportion as it was useless was it admitted to be genuine. ‘The 
slightest practical value damned it forever. 

Empire furniture was bad enough. But Empire designers and 
makers were still within hailing distance of Louis XVI. It remained 
for post-Kmpire—what the Germans call Biedermeier; the English 

4.23 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Early Victorian; and we Late or Empire Colonial—to lose even the 
vestiges of Good Taste to which Empire had clung. 

The German term Biedermeier is especially fit. Biedermeier 
was a character created for the pages of Die Fliegende Blatter, the 
famous Munich comic weekly. During the Napoleonic wars, as during 
the recent World War, social conditions had been revolutionized. The 
rich became poor, and the poor became rich. Biedermeier was one of 
the latter. No furbelows for him. Solid mahogany and plenty of it. 

The Nineteenth Century was a brown century. Everybody saw 
brown and everybody wanted to see brown. Ancient paintings and 
other ancient works of art were admired in proportion as they had 
browned with age. Critics extolled Rembrandts according to their 
invisibility, and other paintings for what the artists seemed in their 
inner souls to have planned, rather than for what they had actually 
put over. ‘Textiles and wall-papers and painted panels looked as if 
seen through brown glasses that took all the “pep” out of the reds and 
blues and golds. 

The Nineteenth Century was also a Baroque century. It wanted 
to have plenty of movement and sculptural relief in its architectural 
forms. Public buildings still testify loudly to the acquaintance of 
Nineteenth Century architects with the Invalides and with St. Paul’s. 

The Nineteenth Century could not even copy intelligently. Its 
Gothic churches are absurd. Its “Queen Anne” and “Jacobean” re- 
productions are queer. Its reproductions of Louis XIV, XV, XVI 
furniture are ludicrous, though often sold for Kighteenth Century in 
the auction rooms. Its reproductions of Louis X VI have the massive- 
ness of Louis XIV. Its reproductions of Louis XV are always 
Régence. Its Louis XIV leans towards Louis XIII. 

About the middle of the Century, the necessity for improvement 
became obvious to a few. The Victoria and Albert Museum at South 
Kensington, in London, was founded and a little later the French 
Society was established of which the Musée des Arts Decoratifs is a 
monument. Gradually, people began to realize that painting and 
sculpture are not all there is of art, and that fine furniture and tex- 
tiles and pottery are necessary to culture. 

The great genius in the revival of English decoration was William 
Morris. ‘Through his personal efforts, often working with his own 
hands, he brought about a re-birth of beauty in English tapestries, 
cretonnes, wall-papers, carpets, and furniture. But even Morris was 

424 


MODERN EUROPEAN 


unable. to rise completely above the baleful ideas of his period, and 
much of his work is unsatisfactory to the superior taste of today. 

To Morris may be largely attributed the increase of interest in 
the then-called “industrial arts” during the latter part of the Nine- 
teenth Century, not only in England and France, but also in Germany 
and Austria and Italy and America. Famous English firms that 
had made good furniture in the Eighteenth Century began again to 
make good furniture. The exquisite workmanship of French cabinet- 
makers was no longer wasted entirely on stupidities. 

Toward the end of the Century, perhaps inspired by the Japa- 
nese, the Art Nouveau movement began. It created some of the worst 
furniture that the world has ever seen. My late lamented friend, Sir 
Purdon Clarke, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and 
later of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, told me an interesting story 
about Art Nouveau, with permission to publish after his death. 

Sir George Donaldson, who was, if I am not mistaken, at that 
time one of the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, gave 
him £5,000 to purchase Art Nouveau furniture at the Paris Expo- 
sition of 1900. Sir Purdon expended the money according to his best 
judgment. When the furniture arrived in London and was put on 
exhibition, Sir Purdon asked Sir George how he liked the selection. 

“Not at all!” responded Sir George. “I am sorry,” said Sir 
Purdon, “I picked out the least extreme examples, and < 

“That is just what is the matter,” interrupted Sir George, “I 
wanted to get the most extreme examples, so that when shown here in 
London they would kill the style forever!” 

I still see evidence of the survival of Art Nouveau in Europe. I 
note also in Europe, the creation of some freak furniture, suitable 
only for artistic Bolshevists. But on the whole, the tendency of fur- 
niture styles, in England and France as well as elsewhere, is towards 
sane construction and judicious ornamentation, with reasonable re- 
spect for the glorious past. 

Nevertheless, none of the furniture made today compares in 
beauty of design and perfection of workmanship with the best furni- 
ture made in France and England in the Eighteenth Century. If a 
piece is superlatively excellent it is ancient. The difficulty is not to keep 
from being deceived by the modern, but to get modern reproductions 
good enough to go in the same room with ancient originals. 

However, I want to admit right here, that if we ever do come to 

425 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


the point where our reproductions are as fine as the originals, I for one 
would just as lief have them. Age in furniture is no advantage. The 
infirmities of age are to be avoided rather than sought after. The 
high regard we have for much ancient furniture is due to its intrinsic » 
excellence; not because of its age but in spite of its age; but we are 
perhaps influenced by the fact that in furniture the survival of the 
fittest is the rule. Superior environment and superior care tend to 
preserve the masterpieces while the refuse disintegrates. 

It seems to me quite as dishonest for a dealer to sell a poor piece 
of ancient furniture for a masterpiece as to deceive about the period 
of production, and quite as much “faking” to doctor up an inferior 
ancient piece to look fine as to dope a modern piece to look ancient. 

The best furniture made in France and England today is based 
on Kighteenth Century models. ‘The same is true of Spain and Bel- 
gium, but the best Italian reproductions are from the Renaissance. 

In furniture of radically modern design the Austrians and Ger- 
mans excel, largely because they avoid freak construction and seek a 
simplicity of line hardly the less acceptable because forced. Much of 
the machine-made Austrian and German furniture is altogether ad- 
mirable. Especially ingenious was Austrian bentwood. 

Yet when we compare complete interiors, the palm for furniture 
of modern design must unhesitatingly be awarded to the French. 
Irom the period of Louis XV they seem to have inherited the ability 
to indulge in constructional and ornamental frivolities elsewhere ugly, 
and they handle the architectural background so skilfully that even 
in the face of violent prejudices, we are obliged to admit that superior- 
ity of taste makes it possible for the French to wander after strange 
gods decoratively without losing their heads. 

There is also less tendency everywhere to judge this merit of 
furniture by the benefit to the artist, and less tendency to regard 
artists and artisans alike as sacred protegés of the State, to be coddled 
in proportion as they are inefficient. Art for Art’s sake is bad enough, 
heaven knows, but when it becomes perverted with Art for the Artist’s 
sake the incentive to accomplishment is gone. From the Art point 
of view the happiest condition is not where State control makes Art a 
matter of politics, but where high general taste bestows high pecuniary 
and other rewards upon the artists and artisans whose accomplish- 
ments are best, driving out of the field the weaklings. 


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MODERN FRENCH FURNITURE BY MERCIER FRERES 


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MODERN FRENCH FURNITURE AT THE ANNUAL PARIS SALON 


4.29 


Louis X VI commode 


Louis XV furniture with painted Chinoiserie walls 
by Howard Cushing. Delano and Aldrich, architects 


MODERN FRENCH LOUIS XV AND XVI FURNITURE 


430 


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MODERN ENGLISH FURNITURE, INSPIRATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 


432 


Views of an English Cottage living room. By Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, architects 


MODERN ENGLISH FURNITURE 


433, 


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Living room by Waring and Gillow 


Dining room by Waring and Gillow 


MODERN ENGLISH INEXPENSIVE FURNITURE 


434 


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MODERN GERMAN 


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435 


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Design of Julius Mosler, Munich 


Design of Richard Riemerschmid, Pasing 
MODERN GERMAN FURNITURE 


436 


Design of Paul Ludwig Troost, Munich 


MODERN GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN FURNITURE 


437 


MODERN AUSTRIAN FURNITURE BY JOSEPH URBAN 


438 


CHAPTER XIV 


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Furniture and hangings mostly ancient 


APARTMENT OR ATREART WARRTARR 


MODERN AMEFRICAN INTRRIOR IN 


CHAPTER XIV 
MODERN AMERICAN, AND MISSION FURNITURE 


Provincialism has its advantages. America still copied Kight- 
eenth Century models in architecture and furniture long after 
Europe had degenerated into Louis Philippe and Karly Victorian. 
Provincialism also has its disadvantages. ‘The Revival of Taste in 
America dragged far behind the Revival of Taste in Europe. From 
the point of view of Good ‘Taste, the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 
is as much of a shock as the London International Exhibition of 1853. 

We had been too busy with other things. We were building rail- 
roads and factories and concentrating our efforts on production in 
quantity. And the Civil War set us back thirty years. We were out 
of sympathy with Europe and especially with the best that Kurope 
had to offer. We were determined to go it alone and to avoid en- 
tangling alliances with Kuropean luxury. ‘The decorative arts seemed 
to us dangerous and decadent and undemocratic. Fine rugs and 
tapestries and rich brocades, and elegant lamps and furniture, were 
beyond our ken. Our architectural standards were disgraceful. Our 
copies of Kuropean Nineteenth Century architecture were much worse 
than the originals. 

Towards the end of the century, however, we began to grope for- 
ward. Some of our young architects studied abroad and caught the 
inspiration for better things. Some of our millionaires began to buy 
Kuropean paintings. European decorators crossed the ocean to fur- 
nish the houses of American nouveaux riches, and finding the trip 
paid, settled in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Cab- 
inetmakers and upholsterers came with them. 

Meanwhile, carpets became fashionable and the weaving of car- 
pets grew to be a mighty industry. Chenille and other heavy draper- 


ies followed the carpets and before long machine-woven lace curtains 
441 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


became common. Occasionally a man would show his independence of 
American opinion by buying expensive Oriental rugs, especially 
Ghiordes and Kulahs. 

Parallel with the development of decorative textiles came that of 
decorative furniture. Lumber was so cheap, that with improved ma- 
chines and quantity production, furniture became cheaper than any- 
where else in the world and the use of it more common than anywhere 
else. Much of this furniture from the design point of view was ex- 
ecrable. Much of it was bad structurally and badly finished. The 
development of machine carving made possible ornamental horrors 
more extreme than anything that had gone before. 

The improvement that has taken place in American machine- 
made furniture in the past fifteen years is almost unbelievable. Es- 
pecially is this noticeable at Grand Rapids, where the furniture in- 
dustry is the main industry of the town. Extraordinary efforts have 
been made to chasten forms, strengthen construction and perfect finish. 
Nowhere in the world are better models used for the creation of good 
furniture in quantity than at Grand Rapids. The leadership that was 
won with cheap lumber is now maintained by superior skill and organ- 
ization. 

The United States is the most Classic country in the world. We 
are more interested in artistic perfection than we are in artistic novelty. 
We have built a majority of the fine buildings of the Twentieth Cen- 
tury. Not too proud to learn, we are studying with passionate en- 
thusiasm the beautiful monuments of all past Ages. Not afraid to 
follow, we sit at the feet of Italy, France and England. 

Our greatest decorative leader was the late Stanford White 
much of whose work is illustrated in this volume. For him Italy was 
the source and the Italian Renaissance the great inspiration. While 
he used Ancient Italian furniture wherever possible, he was the great 
inspirer of Modern American creation, notably in lighting fixtures, 
and in illuminated leather. 

The influence of Stanford White is still splendidly alive. Younger 
men have followed in his footsteps, inspired by him to appreciation 
of Classic in concrete form rather than book Classic. Under their 
direction reproductions are made here in America, not only of the 
furniture of the Italian Renaissance but also of the furniture of 
Ancient Rome. 

Besides the Italian Renaissance furniture made in America for 

442 


MODERN AMERICAN AND MISSION 


the few, there is also much made in shops and factories for more gen- 
eral use. The interest in Italian Renaissance is stimulated throughout 
the United States in schools of art, where students are taught to 
know and express the style in decorative designs. Many of the pieces 
exhibited from time to time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
inspired by examples in the Museum, have great merit. Most of these 
pieces are the creation not of individuals but of corporations. 

T‘rench furniture is no longer generally popular in the United 
States. The awful examples of Louis XIV and Louis XV, executed 
here years ago, killed the Louis styles for the middle classes. Only 
in the finest residences is French furniture now installed, sometimes 
Modern and sometimes made in America, often Ancient of the high- 
est type. 

An inspiration to the study of French furniture, as well as to 
that of Italian and English furniture, are the collections of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

The popular furniture styles in America are English and Colo- 
nial. ‘This is true of all grades of society, from the highest to the 
lowest. In our magnificent country houses, with the architecture 
English or [Italian in style, there is apt to be much more English than 
Italian furniture. Reproductions of English furniture of all periods 
are made by the finest cabinetmakers, as well as by the commercial 
factories. Large quantities of Ancient English furniture and wood- 
work are constantly crossing the Atlantic to New York, for installa- 
tion in American homes. 

Constantly keener becomes the interest in American Colonial 
furniture. Organizations like the Society for the Preservation of New 
England Antiquities fan this enthusiasm. Museums, like the Jumel 
Mansion, the Van Cortlandt Mansion, and the Dyckman House, in 
New York City, assist. For smaller country houses Colonial is the 
prevailing style. 

To be sure, it is not always easy to tell where English leaves off 
and Colonial begins. Many of our finer Colonial interiors contain 
much furniture made in England, as did the Colonial interiors of the 
Kighteenth Century. The finer the interior the more English it is 
likely to be. 

Nevertheless, as our illustrations show, American architects and 
decorators are creating many interiors with a distinctly Colonial tang, 
sometimes with ancient American furniture, sometimes with modern. 

443 


DECORATIVE FURNITURE 


Some of the Colonial bed rooms furnished with ancient American 
maple furniture are exquisitely beautiful. Some of the quaint rooms 
inspired by the humbler examples of Seventeenth or Eighteenth 
Century Colonial are fascinating, at least to us whose ancestors once 
lived in them. 

There is a tendency in the United States, as soon as a name sells 
well, or reads well, for merchants and writers to run it into the ground. 
This tendency is well illustrated by the history of American Mission 
furniture, whose Spanish-American ancestors are interestingly pic- 
tured in this volume in the illustrations contributed by Mr. Harris. 

American Mission furniture gets its name from the ancient 
Spanish Missions of California and New Mexico. The idea of the style 
was suggested to the late Joseph P. McHugh by a chair sent from 
California to New York in 1894. ‘This chair had been designed by a 
California architect for a small Mission church, and had been inspired 
by the rough and simple furniture of the early Spanish Missions. Its 
quaint outlines and primitive construction indicated to Mr. McHugh 
the possibility of a complete scheme of hand-made furniture. 

Native ash was chosen as the wood, and seats were made of 
rushes, haircloth or leather. 

This simple furniture became immediately popular, and was 
ordered from all over the United States. Other makers before long 
followed Mr. McHugh’s example. Craftsman furniture was one of 
the numerous developments of Mission. 

The name Mission became a shibboleth. Heavy and awkward 
tables and settees and chairs, the cruder the more popular, were pro- 
duced in quantities by many different makers. Much of this cheap 
imitation Mission furniture was badly constructed, from wood im- 
perfectly seasoned, and fell apart in use. Robert W. Chambers, in 
his “lole,” rather appropriately uses the term “slab furniture” for 
Mission. 

The vogue of Mission did a great deal to introduce simple forms 
of cottage furniture, and by the ridicule which its advocates threw 
upon over-adorned furniture, helped to banish cheap appliqué machine 
‘arvings and other monstrosities. Indeed, Mission furniture played 
an important part in the upbuilding of American taste, not so much 
by what it offered as by what it taught to avoid. 


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ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AS INTERPRETED BY THE LATE STANFORD WHITE 


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Reception room of the Lydig residence 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AS INTERPRETED BY THE LATE STANFORD WHITE 


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ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AS INTERPRETED BY THE LATE STANFORD WHITE 


452 


In their New York apartment, with background 
of ancient objects. By Bolton and Francis Jones 


MODERN AMERICAN CHEST OF ITALIAN INSPIRATION 


153 


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and painted panels by Warren Dahler 


ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE MADE IN AMERICA 


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ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FURNITURE MADE IN AMERICA 


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MODERN AMERICAN LOUIS XV INTERIOR 


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MODERN AMERICAN LOUIS XVI INTERIOR 


459 


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MODERN AMERICAN FURNITURE OF ENGLISH JACOBEAN INSPIRATION 


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AMERICAN INTERPRETATIONS 


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MODERN AMERICAN COLONIAL INTERIORS 


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MODERN AMERICAN RUSTIC FURNITURE 


476 


Laurel Harris’ Mayflower room 


Davanzati living room by J. Mortimer Lichtenauer. Models of rooms by members of the National 
Society of Mural Painters made for the annual exhibition of the Architectural League of New York 


MODERN AMERICAN MINIATURE MODEL ROOMS 


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(1) View in the ruins of the oldest church in the United 
States. Our Lady of Guadaloupe at Zuni, New Mexico. 
Irom this mission church the carved wood pilasters, 
shown in (2) and (3) were recovered. These pilasters 
were probably designed by Franciscan missionaries and 
executed by Zuni craftsmen 


(4) Ancient kneeling chair from 
a mission at’ Zuni, New Mexico 


(5) Ancient leather trunk and trunk rack 
from a mission at Zuni, New Mexico 


ANCIENT AMERICAN MISSION FURNITURE 


478 


(3) 


Three early Spanish-American chairs, the middle one from Santa Fé, New Mexico, 
with rawhide seat, and joints bound with thongs of rawhide, as the illustration shows 


Rawhide leather chest of the Seventeenth Century 


Writing desk, New Mexico, Seventeenth Century 


ANCIENT AMERICAN MISSION FURNITURE 


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